Whistleblowers are individuals who see and report fraud or illegal activities against the government. A qualified whistleblower is often given a substantial reward for their part in alerting the government to fraudulent activity. This award can be between 15 and 30 percent of the settlement money from a lawsuit.

But once you suspect you have seen fraudulent activity, how do you know whether or not you are a qualified whistleblower?

Whistleblowers are often current employees of the company suspected of committing fraud. Other whistleblowers wait until after their employment has ended before they blow the whistle. For these individuals, reporting fraud after the end of their employment of a company may feel safer than doing so while employed, for fear of some kind of retaliation like termination of employment.

Indeed, many potential whistleblowers choose to keep silent about fraud they’ve witnessed, out of fear of getting in trouble. These potential claimants may not realize that the law provides employment protections for whistleblowers.

Federal employees enjoy protection under the Whistleblower Protection Act. This law is enforced by the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), whose job it is to protect federal employees from any pushback for whistleblowing.

The OSC recently released a press release about so-called gag orders, which are sometimes used in an attempt to prevent employees from speaking out about their work.

The OSC notes that the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (WPEA) includes an “anti-gag order provision,” which means that “agencies cannot impose non-disclosure agreements and policies that fail to include required language that informs employees that their statutory right to blow the whistle supersedes the terms and conditions of the nondisclosure agreement or policy.”

The anti-gag order provision strengthened in the WPEA was included by Republican Senator Charles Grassley.

How do You Know if You Are a Qualified Whistleblower?

There are a few concerns to take into account before considering yourself to be under the protection of these federal whistleblower regulations.

If a federal agency takes action against an employee because of any of the following things, this generally violates the Whistleblower Protection Act. However, declaring yourself to be a qualified whistleblower is far from sufficient to guarantee proper legal protection.

In general, the Whistleblower Protection Act prohibits federal agencies from taking adverse action against an employee, or for failing to take an action that would be to the employee’s benefit, due to any of the following:

• Disclosure by the employee of information believed to be evidence of illegal activity or fraud
• Gross mismanagement
• Gross waste of funds
• An abuse of authority
• Substantial and specific danger to public health or safety

Whistleblower laws are complicated enough that, in many cases, a person may not be certain if they fall under whistleblower protection rules. Also, reporting the alleged fraud via a whistleblower hotline may preclude the employee from collecting an incentive award in a later whistleblower lawsuit.

That’s why it is generally wise to seek legal counsel from a whistleblower attorney with experience in similar cases.

Becoming a Whistleblower

If you believe you are a qualified whistleblower and have been witness to some kind of fraud against the government by a current or former employer, you may be eligible to file a whistleblower lawsuit on behalf of the government.