Whistle blower

[saujad]

Alabama
I desperately need the Federal Law or Code that protects Whistle Blowers. I am involved in a court case in which I was fired for contacting the Wage and Labor Board on my employer. I need a copy of this law to submit to the judge in my case. Thanks

 

[Beth3]

Why would federal whistleblowers protection have anything to do with your case? Your State's wage and hour laws undoubtedly prohibit employers from retalliating against an employee who files a complaint with them.

Maybe I'm missing something but I don't see the relevance between your claim and your question.

 

[saujad]

I contacted the wage and labor board concerning one pay check.
The company than came up with an false excuse to terminate me and refused to pay a large commission had coming to me.
The court suit is primarily my commission pay. A copy of the law would be a great help.

 

[Beth3]

Go to this website: www.osc.gov and you should find what you're looking for. (That's the web site for the U.S. Office of Special Counsel.)

Honestly, I don't think this is at all relevant to your situation. What you want is a copy of your STATE's wage and hour laws, specifically the part that prohibits retalliation for filing a complaint with your State's wage and hour division. Federal whistleblower protections simply do not apply here but whatever...

 

[Sinsaint26]

As Beth said, whistle blower laws do not apply in your case. Whistle blower protection only applies to people who make complaints which involve wrong doings against communities or customers such as illegal waste dumping, overcharging customers, fraud,..... Whistle blower protection does not apply to a single person making a complaint on their own personal interests. As Beth said the information you should obtain is the law specifically forbidding retaliation for filing a complaint with said agency. The page you should print out can be found at http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/whd/mwposter.htm

Scroll down to the bottom and you will see enforcement in bold lettering. If you still want to go the whistle blower route you can try but I suggest printing this page and taking it with you as well.

 

[saujad]

Both sites you pionted me to helped but I could not find the specific information I needed. Is there a web site that address a law in which legally address; " Employers cannot discriminate against an employee because he or she has "whistle blown" which is reporting illegal activity of the employer."
Thank you so much for your help

 

[coosi]

You said this was your suit/complaint

contacted the wage and labor board concerning one pay check.
The company than came up with an false excuse to terminate me and refused to pay a large commission had coming to me.
The court suit is primarily my commission pay. A copy of the law would be a great help

Then you were told

Whistle blower protection only applies to people who make complaints which involve wrong doings against communities or customers such as illegal waste dumping, overcharging customers, fraud,..... Whistle blower protection does not apply to a single person making a complaint on their own personal interests

Then you said

Both sites you pionted me to helped but I could not find the specific information I needed. Is there a web site that address a law in which legally address; " Employers cannot discriminate against an employee because he or she has "whistle blown" which is reporting illegal activity of the employer."

Can you see that whistle blower doesn't apply to this case?

 

[coosi]

http://66.218.71.225/search/cache?p=alabama+"36-25-24"&ei=UTF-8&n=20&fl=0&url=pWsJZ3DkzmEJ:www.legislature.state.al.us/CodeofAlabama/1975/36-25-24.htm

Okay, here's the Alabama Whistleblower law. It applies to Public Employees. Are you a public employee?

Section 36-25-24
Supervisor prohibited from discharging or discriminating against employee where employee reports violation.
(a) A supervisor shall not discharge, demote, transfer, or otherwise discriminate against a public employee regarding such employee's compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment based on the employee's reporting a violation, or what he or she believes in good faith to be a violation, of this chapter or giving truthful statements or truthful testimony concerning an alleged ethics violation.

(b) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed in any manner to prevent or prohibit or otherwise limit a supervisor from disciplining, discharging, transferring, or otherwise affecting the terms and conditions of a public employee's employment so long as the disciplinary action does not result from or is in no other manner connected with the public employee's filing a complaint with the commission, giving truthful statements, and truthfully testifying.

(c) No public employee shall file a complaint or otherwise initiate action against a public official or other public employee without a good faith basis for believing the complaint to be true and accurate.

(d) A supervisor who is alleged to have violated this section shall be subject to civil action in the circuit courts of this state pursuant to the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure as promulgated by the Alabama Supreme Court.

(e) A public employee who without a good faith belief in the truthfulness and accuracy of a complaint filed against a supervisor, shall be subject to a civil action in the circuit courts in the State of Alabama pursuant to the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure as promulgated by the Supreme Court. Additionally, a public employee who without a good faith belief in the truthfulness and accuracy of a complaint as filed against a supervisor shall be subject to appropriate and applicable personnel action.

(f) Nothing in this section shall be construed to allow a public employee to file a complaint to prevent, mitigate, lessen, or otherwise to extinguish existing or anticipated personnel action by a supervisor. A public employee who willfully files such a complaint against a supervisor shall, upon conviction, be guilty of the crime of false reporting.

(Acts 1973, No. 1056, p. 1699, §30; Acts 1975, No. 130, §1; Acts 1995, No. 95-194, p. 269, §1.)

 

[saujad]

This is fantastic! This is exactly what I need!
So to state this law in court I refer to it as,
Code of Alabama 1975 Section 36-25-24?
Is this correct?

After navigating through the site I realized I am not public employee ( I assume this refers to a govermental employee) but was private company employee. Are there any laws to protect me in this employment?

 

[coosi]

Yes, that would be fine. Are you a public employee? You never said that in earlier posts...

 

[coosi]

After navigating through the site I realized I am not public employee ( I assume this refers to a govermental employee) but was private company employee. Are there any laws to protect me in this employment?

If you read through other posts (try the search feature) you will find many references to reasons for termination. Basically, unless you're under written contract (like a bargaining agreement) you can be fired for almost anything.

If I understand right, your commission paycheck was withheld, you contacted the labor board and then were fired?

Withholding pay is illegal.

Termination is not.

You might get better answers tomorrow or Monday.

 

[saujad]

After navigating through the site I realized I am not public employee ( I assume this refers to a govermental employee) but was private company employee. Are there any laws to protect me in this employment?

 

[saujad]

I realize that in this state I can be terminated for any reason. I am not fighting the termination directly. What I am fighting for is the withholding on the commission. The commission does not come under the wage and hour laws. I have to fight for this commission in court. I found this statement under wrongful termination on the web but could not find a written law to back it up. "When an employee tells on an employer who is breaking the law. Employees who blow the whistle on their employers are protected by law. If they are fired or otherwise retaliated against for whistle blowing, they can sue."

 

[Sinsaint26]

Ok, last time. What you did is not covered under the whistle blower laws. I know you FEEL like you blew the whistle about this one pay check but in legal terms you didn't. As I said before, whistle blower laws protect people who have made complaints to protect the community, not one individual. What happend to you is covered under retaliation for contacting or filing a complaint with the DOL. I understand what you are saying about the commission not falling under the DOL's laws but because withholding your commission was a direct result of your complaint, it falls under the retaliation portion of the law.

Here's an example. Employee A gets demoted. He can't get the DOL involved because generally demotions are legal. Employee B files a complaint with the DOL and then gets demoted. Now it does fall under the DOL's retaliation laws because his demotion was a direct result of his complaint which is expressly forbidden. You filed a complaint with the DOL. Your employer got mad. Your employer has a policy of not paying commission to anyone after termination. Your employer retaliates by terminating you, thus making you ineligible for the commission. That is retaliation under DOL's regulations.

Now, I think just about everyone has told you and given you specific examples of why you are not a whistle blower and that your case falls specifically under the DOL's regulations forbidding retaliation (see the link from my last post as that is the page your case falls under) but you do whatever you want. But don't be surprised by the giggle that comes out of the judge's mouth when you say you were a whistle blower. BTW, even if the judge knows what law was broken, if you file your case under an incorrect violation it will be thrown out.

 

[saujad]

Sinsaint26
Thank you for clarify your post. I see it now under "ENFORCEMENT:
Fines of up to $10,000 per violation may be assessed against employers who violate the child labor provisions of the law and up to $1,000 per violation against employers who willfully or repeatedly violate the minimum wage or overtime pay provisions. This law prohibits discriminating against or discharging workers who file a complaint or participate in any proceedings under the Act."
I filed in court a very general complaint against this employer. But I did want to present to the judge a written law that backs me up.
This is very good. Again thank you for all your help.

It looks like the law I need is found at http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/29/215.html
US Code
TITLE 29 section 215 CHAPTER 8 #3