Jury Determines Raytheon Not Guilty of Retaliation in Major Lawsuit

A former engineer at Raytheon filed a $3.56 million lawsuit alleging wrongful termination and retaliation for having reported his concerns about timecard fraud to ethics officials within the company. However, at trial, the jury determined Raytheon was not guilty of retaliation in the case.

The employee had submitted complaints that the company refused to pay employees for overtime. At the trial, evidence showed the employee filed his complaint with ethics officials only after learning he was being investigated for timecard irregularities. Raytheon produced records that showed the employee was only at company facilities for four hours, despite recording 10 hours on his timesheet. Additional records showed he had not logged in to the company’s systems at all in those times, which would have indicated he was working remotely.

The eight-person jury deliberated over the evidence for a couple hours before finding that retaliation did not occur.

Whistleblower wrongdoing can affect chances of successful action

There are cases in which whistleblowers who committed wrongdoing themselves can still earn rewards for reporting their findings to the proper authorities. However, in many cases, these whistleblowers will have their compensation significantly reduced from what they would have otherwise received.

Regardless, it is extremely important for anyone with knowledge of illegal activity committed within a business or agency to report what they know. Doing so can provide a great public service, while also resulting in some form of award for the whistleblower.

For more information about how to proceed with a whistleblower claim, consult a skilled Dallas lawyer at Whistleblower Law for Managers.