Ann O’Hanlon, spokeswoman for the Office of Special Counsel (“OSC”), announced last week that the OSC was projecting a record number of reported incidents from whistleblowers in fiscal year 2012.  GovExec.com, a government business news daily, reported on July 26, 2012, that through the first three quarters of the fiscal year, the OSC has received [...]

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued an important decision for whistleblowers on July 26, 2012, in the case of WEC Carolina Energy Solutions, LLC v. Willie Miller a/k/a Mike Miller, et al. The Fourth Circuit upheld a district court judge’s decision to dismiss a claim brought against Mr. Miller under the [...]

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) of the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) has issued a final rule implementing the whistleblower provisions of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act (“STAA”), according to Law360.  The rule incorporates amendments to the law made by The Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 (“9/11 Act”), which [...]

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) of the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) has – for the fourth time in less than a year – ordered Omaha, Nebraska’s Union Pacific Railroad Co. to pay an employee damages for retaliation in violation of the Federal Railroad Safety Act (“FRSA”).  The FRSA protects employees who report [...]

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) of the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced on July 19, 2012 that it had ordered two Illinois-based railroad companies to pay three workers a total of $650,000 in back wages and other damages for retaliating against them for reporting workplace injuries and safety concerns.  The orders came [...]

The U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (“MSPB” or “the Board”), the administrative agency responsible for adjudicating most employment disputes brought by federal government employees, issued a decision on July 16, 2012 in favor of a whistleblower at the Department of Transportation (“DOT”).  In the case of Farrington v. Department of Transportation, Kim Anne Farrington, a [...]

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) of the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) signed a memorandum of agreement on July 16, 2012 with the Federal Railroad Administration (“FRA”) of the U.S. Department of Transportation (“DOT”) to facilitate coordination and cooperation between agencies regarding the enforcement of the whistleblower protection provision of the Federal Railroad [...]

William Holowecki, formerly employed as the Information Systems Security Manager at Avaya Government Solutions, alleged in a complaint filed on July 12, 2012, that Avaya terminated him in violation of the False Claims Act (“FCA”) after he discovered, documented and reported false certifications made by Avaya to a federal government agency regarding unauthorized access to [...]

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) of the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced settlements in two whistleblower cases earlier this month.  The first settlement, announced on July 2, 2012, was reached with the Tennessee trucking company Heartland Transportation, Inc., which had been accused of terminating a driver for complaining about unsafe vehicles.  The [...]

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) of the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) has issued final regulations mandating procedures for handling retaliation claims brought under the whistleblower protection provisions of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (“CPSIA”), Law360 reports.  The regulations, issued on July 9, 2012, lay out detailed timelines for the [...]