Whistleblower Protection Blog : Whistleblower Lawyer & Attorney : National Whistleblower Legal Defense and Education Fund : Whistleblower Protection, Fraud Claims : Washington DC

On Workers Memorial Day and the 40^th anniversary of the creation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Workforce Protections Subcommittee of the House Committee on Education and Labor held a hearing on pending legislation, the Protecting America’s Workers Act (PAWA), H.R. 2067.

Rep. Lynn Woolsey of California, introduced PAWA to strengthen employee rights to blow the whistle on unsafe working conditions and the rights of family members of workers who have been killed or seriously injured at work.

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Richie Robb was West Virginia's longest serving mayor (of South Charleston) when he left that office in 2007. He was a chair of the state's Republican Party and criticized President Bush for the war in Iraq. He has now switched parties and is challenging State Senator Erik Wells in the Democratic primary.

This week, a group of labor unions started running ads against Wells. According to the West Virginia MetroNews, the ad focuses on Wells’ 2006 vote against a whistleblower protection bill after an explosion in Sago, West Virginia, killed 12 miners. The ad uses footage of the Upper Big Branch mine explosion and says, "Sometimes miners have to hide in the shadows to speak about unsafe conditions, like after the Upper Big Branch mine explosion. After the Sago tragedy, Sen. Erik Wells voted against giving whistle blower protection to miners who speak up against unsafe conditions."

Wells calls the ad "distasteful." The leader of the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce, Steve Roberts, told LegalNewsline.com that the ad misrepresents the bill Wells voted against. Roberts says this month's mine explosion, which killed 39 miners, should not be used for political gain.

Whistleblower protection issues pit health and safety against the interests of managers to fire whom they want.  Too often it takes dead bodies to move politicians to take a stand for safety. When a politician still won't move, after so many dead bodies have piled up, that is an issue of public concern that deserves the glow of media attention. Here is a political tip for Wells:  if labor unions are questioning your vote on a whistleblower protection bill during a Democratic primary campaign, the Chamber of Commerce might not be your best choice for spokesperson.  As the old labor song asks, "which side are you on?" West Virginia's primary election is May 11.

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Sandra Obradovic, leader of Trade Union of Aluminum Plant of Podgorica (KAP) in Montenegro, was fired for participating in a round table organized by anti-corruption organization MANS (The Network for Affirmation of NGO Sector).  Ms. Obradovic is a strong advocate of compliance with labor laws and “green regulations” in her job, even though she faced constant pressure from management to stay silent on these issues.

At the round table, Ms. Obradovic spoke about the harassment she was experiencing at the workplace in front of the round table participants, which included members of the Montenegro government and several other reputable EU officials.  Ms. Obradovic timely informed her management that she would be leaving work that day to perform her trade union activities and was cleared to attend. As her discussion was widely publicized in the media, KAP was well aware of her participation as the trade union leader.

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The Workforce Protections Subcommittee of the House Education and Labor Committee will be holding a hearing tomorrow at 10:00 am on the whistleblower provisions in Protecting America’s Workers Act (H.R. 2067). These provisions apply to violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), which cover approximately 60% of corporate whistleblower complaints. The proposed changes are designed to update workplace whistleblower protections by mirroring other modern whistleblower statutes, such as the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. It will provide stronger anti-retaliation protections for workers who blow the whistle on dangerous workplace conditions. Please visit the committee website for a list of witnesses and to watch the hearing online.

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The Star of Penang, Malaysia, reports that parliament there has passed a new Whistleblower Protection Bill. Unfortunately, the bill only protects informants who provide confidential information to the government. The Star rightfully inquired of the government why other disclosures would not be protected. Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Liew Vui Keong answered,  “We have to distinguish the matter involved in Balasubramaniam and Raja Petra’s case. They are not whistleblowers because they re­­vealed their identity. They told the world who they were. A whistleblower is someone whose identity we don’t know.” Obviously, this is a narrow view of whistleblowing that I do not share.

Liew also told The Star that a person could not seek protection under the new Act when he exposed information to the media. He added that protection for the informant would be withdrawn if the informant exposed it to the media after disclosing the information to enforcement agencies. This view is contrary to the majority view in American courts: going to the media is often the most effective way to get the government to take action.

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The Wisconsin Senate yesterday passed a "Shield Law" that would protect journalists and their confidential sources. The bill now goes to the Governor who has expressed support for the bill.

The bill's sponsor, Sen. Pat Kreitlow, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "This bill is not about protecting the journalists so much as protecting the whistleblowers and their ability to come forward without the fear of intimidation or retribution from their employers." Kreitlow is a former television and radio reporter. The Journal Sentinel noted that its Pulitzer-winning investigation into fraud in a state child-care program depended on whistleblowers.

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Today the National Whistleblowers Center submitted a statement of concern about whistleblower protection in the United States to the United Nations' Commission on Human Rights, Universal Periodic Review (UPR).  It alleges that the US falls short of its international obligations by jailing whistleblowers like Bradley Birkenfeld, and by failing to protect whistleblowers in federal employment, the private sector, and internationally. A copy of the submission is available here.  With it, I submitted Attachment 1 listing the international obligations to protect whistleblowers, Attachment 2 about the effectiveness of whistleblowers, and Attachment 3, a report of the Ethics Research Center.

The UN's working group will conduct a hearing on the submissions in November or December. In the meantime, the United States Department of State will have time to review and comment on the submissions. Perhaps the State Department will agree that U.S. law falls short on whistleblower protection. Perhaps it will offer some explanation. Perhaps it will ask U.S. Senators to dump the poison pills in S. 372 and adopt H.R. 1507 as the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act. Perhaps it will ask President Obama to pardon Brad Birkenfeld. It is good that the UN has a process in which member states are called to account on ways they can improve their human rights record.

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