In the first decade of the 2000s, the United States Congress responded to corporate fraud and safety violations in the airlines and pipeline industries. Whistleblower protection laws gained public notice in the 1970s during a fight against corruption in corporations unwilling to follow federal laws. The legislation in the last decade gives tough protection against corporate activities made notable in cases like Enron.
Whistleblower Protection
When a citizen who works in the industry decides to report fraud or safety violations that might place lives in jeopardy, a federal law protects them against an employer’s strong attempts to discourage their report. The whistleblower handles the full responsibility to inform a supervisor or federal authority. With no support, legal protection is needed to enable these employees to fulfill their responsibility. Employee discharge, when not prohibited, gives the employer a strong and effective option for dissuading whistleblowers. The 2000s have been an experience in finding the industries where some employers are still willing to scheme against employees to achieve business goals.
Corporate Fraud
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 protects corporate whistleblowers who help the government find and stop corporations that defraud their shareholders, or gain funds from a bank by defrauding, so they can succeed in business. A violator might commit fraud by traditional means in person, or by using communications via wire, radio or television. In any case, the law supports the employee willing to turn in their associates and superiors. A discharge in retaliation for reporting or participating in a hearing is prohibited.
Aviation Safety
Airline employees gained their federal legal protection for reporting air carries for flight safety violations with the enactment of the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century. Failures by airline carriers to provide safe passage weigh heavily on the conscience. The law helps the vigilant employee handle the reporting burden by preventing any discriminatory attempt to have them fired or make them quit.
Pipeline Safety
Discovering a company has violated pipeline safety laws, putting the public at risk of a an accident involving gas or hazardous liquids places a worker in a position to protect the public, and their fellow workers. The United States Congress responded to the plight of these workers with the Pipeline Safety Act of 2002. Since then, concerned pipeline workers have had job security.
Complaints
Any of these employees who have been discharged can submit a complaint to the Department of Labor and seek reinstatement and back pay. In addition to putting the employee back into the position they were in, the employer could have to pay compensatory damages. Proof that the employer used their reporting or hearing activities as a reason for discharge wins the case. An employee has to act promptly enough to meet filing time deadlines, 90 days for corporate fraud and the air carrier safety violations, or 180 days in the pipeline industry.
Resources:
Sarbanes-Oxley Act at OSHA
Pipeline Safety at OSHA
AIR 21 at OSHA
Protection Against Wrongful Termination for air Safety Violations and Corporate Fraud.