Charleston Gazette calls for modernizing whistleblower protections
In an editorial yesterday, the Charleston Gazette of West Virginia called on Congress to pass a law to modernize the legal protections for workplace health and safety whistleblowers. "Whistleblowers protect the health and safety of working Americans by exposing unsafe conditions," the editorial begins. It then recounts how the Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found that the Department of Labor's whistleblower protection program could do a better job of protecting whistleblowers. One could also add the DOL's Inspector General's report. Recalling the Upper Big Branch mine disaster, and the Deepwater Horizon explosion, the editorial suggests, "If whistleblowers had been protected, those tragedies might have been prevented." It then quotes Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., as saying, "I will continue to work with my colleagues and the Secretary of Labor to modernize anti-retaliation protections as part of the Robert C. Byrd Miners Safety and Health Act." I remember attending a hearing on the Protecting America's Workers Act (PAWA) that would modernize Section 11(c) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act). If including PAWA in the Robert C. Byrd Miners Safety and Health Act will get it passed, I can be all for that. Rep. Miller introduced H.R.5663, the Robert C. Byrd Miners Safety and Health Act, last July. The House Judiciary Committee reported it out on July 29, 2010. As reported out, Section 701 of the bill contains a gold-standard of whistleblower protection to replace Section 11(c) of the old OSH Act. Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia has introduced a companion bill, S. 3671. It is still waiting for action by the Senate committee. "Passing stronger whistleblower protections would be a tribute to West Virginia's late senator," the Charleston Gazette says. I agree.
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New whistleblower regulations can be enforced by oig as well (e.g., the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, 2008) and yet I haven't seen any reports that state they or anyone else is successfully protecting whistleblowers. Remember that hardly anyone has been successful with the Sarbanes-Oxley law in the courts which also claimed to deliver gold standard protections for whistleblowers but all the evidence points to the contrary.
Why on earth can report safety concerns for employees but not for hospital patients?
If you really want to protect whistleblowers, then you have to have criminal prosecutions of those who do the retaliating. After all, their behavior is identical to stalking and also represents criminal defamation. Unfortunately, these laws are enforced sporadically for the powerful or elite.