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Lloyd–La Follette Act of 1912
Lloyd–La Follette Act was a civil service act that established procedures for firing federal employees along with granting federal employees the right to share information with congress directly. This means it was indirectly the first legislation to protect whistleblowers since it allowed employees to expose corruption. https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/lloyd-la-follette-act -
My Lai Massacre is Exposed by Whistleblower
After hearing stories from other men in his infantry, Ronald L. Ridenhour, wrote a letter to U.S. government members describing the atrocities which occurred at My Lai, Vietnam. His letters lead to an investigation being opened and the conviction of Lieut. William L. Calley Jr. who lead the platoon which carried out most of the My Lai Massacre. This was one of many events which created public outrage against the Vietnam War. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-may-12-me-48873-story.html -
Watergate Scandal
After Nixon had expanded Vietnam efforts despite him publicly stating the opposite to win the public opinion in the election, he hired employees which planned the robbery of the Democratic National Committee to prevent info being leaked. Whistleblower FBI agent, Mark Felt, assisted in revealing Nixon's corruption by leaking information to the press. This scandal resulted in Nixon resigning as president and remains one of the largest scandals in US history.
https://watergate.info -
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
This act entitles whistleblowers who provide new information on bribed paid to foreign government officials by a U.S. citizen to 10-30% of the sanctions obtained by the U.S. government. This act is unique in that it was designed to protect non-U.S. citizens by keeping their identity confidential until their compensation must be collected. Statistics show this act is most successful in increasing whistleblowing.
https://www.whistleblowers.org/foreign-corrupt-practices-act-a-comprehensive-look/ -
Civil Service Reform Act of 1978
Created to encourage whistleblowers by providing them with defense from retaliation from employers after exposing dishonest or illegal activity. The main provision of this act allows whistleblowers to petition to the Merit Systems Protection Board if their complaint of employer retaliation is dismissed by lower state or federal courts.
https://www.attorneymahoney.com/blog/2016/october/how-does-the-civil-service-reform-act-protect-wh/ -
Amendments added to the False Claims Act
After it was exposed how much money contractors had been stealing from the U.S. government through fraudulent billing, Congress responded by adding additional amendments to the False Claims Act of 1863. They increased penalties of fraud against the gov. and increased the rewards whistleblowers can receive to 10-30% of monetary sanction received, creating more incentive for whistleblowing.
https://whistleblowerlaw.com/false-claims-act-1986-relevant/ -
Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989
The Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989 strengthened the protections given to federal employees under the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 to encourage the reporting of government corruption. It also simplified the reporting process to make reporting easier as well as putting the Office of Special Counsel in charge of representing whistleblowers and hearing reports. https://employment.findlaw.com/whistleblowers/whistleblower-protection-act-an-overview.html -
Sarbanes Oxley Act
SOX was created after the early 2000's financial scandals which created public distrust of massive corporations. Under section 806, employees are protected from possible retaliation from employers if they report crimes such as mail fraud, bank fraud, wire fraud, and securities fraud. Whistleblowers will be more likely to come forward since retaliation from an employer could have devastating financial effects.
https://www.zuckermanlaw.com/legal-services/sarbanes-oxley-whistleblower/ -
Abuse at Abu Ghraib Prison Exposed by
In 2004, American army soldier, Sgt. Joseph Darby, was given a CD with the now infamous, graphic photos depicting the abuse taking place on the people held at the Abu Ghraib Prison, which was being used as a US Detention center for Iraqis from 2003 to 2006. In January of that year, Darby gave the tape to superiors, which prompted an investigation and exposing the horrors taking place in the prison at the hands of the American military.https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5651609 -
The Dodd-Frank Act
Strengthens the protections given to whistleblowers by the SOX Act. It establishes a payment of 10-30% of the litigation settlement is given to the whistleblower. This encourages whistleblowing since whistleblowers have attorney fees and face possible public backlash making it difficult to find a job. It also extended the statute of limitations where whistleblowers can make claims against their employers.
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/dodd-frank-financial-regulatory-reform-bill.asp -
Whistleblowing Enhancement Act of 2012
This act strengthened the protections given to federal government employees who report evidence of waste, fraud, or abuse within the government. It also simplified the reporting process and extended the circumstances in which an employee can report wrongdoings.
https://www.congress.gov/bill/112th-congress/senate-bill/743
