NDAA Continues to Provide Whistleblowers Much-Needed Protection

July 2015 marked the second anniversary of when the whistleblower protection statutes of the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) went into effect. The law has provided a number of new protections for whistleblowers, shielding them from retaliation by employers — especially from government grantees and contractors.

So what types of protections does the NDAA specifically provide? Whistleblowers will be protected under the law if they provide information they reasonably believe was evidence of:

• Any sort of gross mismanagement of a federal grant or contract
• A gross waste or mismanagement of federal funds
• An abuse of authority relating to any federal grant or contract
• A significant and specific danger to public safety or health, or a violation of any rule, regulation or law relating to federal contracts

Disclosures of any such violations must be made either to a member of Congress or congressional committee, a federal employee in charge of grant or contract oversight or management, an inspector general or a court, management official or grand jury with the responsibility to discover and handle misconduct.

Additionally, the NDAA makes the burden of proof and causation in these cases quite favorable to whistleblowers. The whistleblower must show his or her report of a violation was a factor in the retaliation taken by the employer. Potential results include reinstatement of the previous position, uncapped compensatory damages, back pay and attorney fees.

To learn more about the types of protections available under the NDAA, contact the skilled team of Dallas attorneys led by Steve Kardell at Whistleblower Law for Managers.