Whistleblowers: Protected by Law from Retaliation
By Chenelle Husband
Fraud, waste or abuse violations can go unreported because associates are afraid of reprisal. However, federal laws protect whistleblowers from retaliation.
Whistleblowers protect the Exchange by exposing fraud, waste, abuse and unsafe workplace conditions. Knowing they are protected from reprisal will encourage associates to report wrongdoing that will make the workplace safer and healthier.
10 U.S.C. 1587 and DoD 1401.03 provide whistleblower protection for Exchange associates.
Who is a whistleblower?
Whistleblowers can be current or former associates or applicants with information that fraud, waste or abuse is happening and feel obligated to report it.
What is “whistleblowing?”
The term refers to an associate alerting managers, the inspector general or Loss Prevention and Human Resources directorates someone engaged in prohibited activities that evidences:
- a violation of law or regulation
- waste or abuse
- mismanagement
Reporting the activities becomes protected disclosure communication, whether through verbal, written or electronic means.
Whistleblowers protect the Exchange by exposing fraud, waste, abuse and unsafe workplace conditions. Knowing they are protected from reprisal will encourage associates to report wrongdoing that will make the workplace safer and healthier.
What is whistleblower reprisal?
Reprisal is when a manager takes, fails to take or threatens to take personnel actions because the associate submitted protected communication:
- Denying an appointment or promotion
- Taking disciplinary action
- Transferring or reassigning the associate
- Giving the associate a bad performance evaluation
- Making punitive decisions about the associate’s pay, benefits or training
I was a reprisal victim, now what?
Contact the Department of Defense’s inspector general by completing the online form at dodig.mil/Hotline/reprisalcomplaint. Contact the Exchange’s inspector general for help.
Your complaint must show:
- You made a protected communication.
- A personnel action was taken, withdrawn or threatened.
- The manager had actual knowledge of the protected disclosure before taking or withholding the personnel action.
- Knowledge of the protected disclosure was a contributing factor in the decision to take the personnel action.
Chenelle Husband is an Exchange assistant inspector general in Dallas. Learn more about whistleblower reprisal by taking the LEX course, Whistleblower Reprisal (IGWR).
