protections against retaliation

What is the name of your state?NY
I work as a restaurant manager. employees approached me regarding liquor law violations being comitted by another manager (who is my superior) One of the employees also made the district manager (his superior) aware of the issue. The district manager has taken little to no action and states he is still investigating. this investigation has lasted 2 weeks so far and he has not contacted any of the "witnesses" (other employees, myself and another manager). Although we are disgusted that this is being brushed aside what concerns us now is potential retaliation. The manager in question has begun making comments concerning "getting back at those people involved", "getting rid of the troublemakers" etc. He also has been non-stop questioning employees to find out what they said or who they know is involved. The district manager is aware of these comments having been made. My question is do I or the employees have any protections? Do we need to report to the liquor board? These infractions are of a serious nature which could cause us to lose our license.

Only someone familiar with your State's liquor laws can answer your questions. Generally, there are few protections in the law for employees who make internal complaints. With the exception of internal complaints of prohibited discrimation and a few other specific instances, the law only provides protections to employees who make complaints to a government agency. I suggest you contact NY's liquor licensing agency and inquire about any protections provided for in the law.

NY Consolidated laws, Title 31, Labor; 20 -C Retaliatory Actions by Employers

An employer shall not take any retaliatory personnel
action against an employee because such employee does any of the
following:
(a) discloses, or threatens to disclose to a supervisor or to a public
body an activity, policy or practice of the employer that is in
violation of law, rule or regulation which violation creates and
presents a substantial and specific danger to the public health or
safety;
(b) provides information to, or testifies before, any public body
conducting an investigation, hearing or inquiry into any such violation
of a law, rule or regulation by such employer; or
(c) objects to, or refuses to participate in any such activity, policy
or practice in violation of a law, rule or regulation.

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The law also states that you must talk to your employer and give them a chance to rectify the violation first.

However, this is not protection this is recourse. The statute can't actually protect you from being retaliated against, it can only give you redress if you are terminated for a retaliatory reason. And Beth is right, if you really want to jump in this, then after you formally advise the owner/supervisor that this is going on, you need to report the violations to the ABC. However, it sounds as though your interest is in getting the other manager disciplined, not in stopping a violation, and there is no way you can force your emloyer to do that.

In any case, document everything.