New York employees will soon have greater rights to assert claims of wrongdoing by their employers without retaliatory action. State lawmakers recently amended New York’s whistleblower law protections for private sector employees. The amended law expands key definitions and significantly expands employee protections and limits employers’ defenses. Most importantly, after decades of effort, members of the state legislature and advocates for the amendments lowered the standard for an employee to bring a claim of retaliation. Here is what employers need to know about the expanded protections that take effect January 26, 2022.
Pre-Existing Whistleblower Protections
Before the recent amendments, New York provided narrow whistleblower rights to employees. New York Labor Law Section 740, the state’s whistleblower statute, only prohibited retaliation against employees who reported unlawful practices of their employer that create a “substantial and specific danger to the public health and safety.” In order to receive whistleblower protections, the law required the employee to prove an actual violation of law by their employer. Employees who reported suspected violations of law that ultimately were unfounded were not protected from retaliatory action.
Lower Standard to State A Claim
As noted above, an employee previously needed to allege the following to bring a claim for retaliation under the state’s whistleblower law: (1) an employer violated an actual violation of a law, rule...
A Peoria man filed 14 tax returns for 2020 & 2021 for businesses not operating and received almost $2 million in refunds. PHOENIX — A Peoria man pleaded guilty to receiving almost $2 million in...