Protection against Retaliation for blowing whistle ?
Several months ago I complained to my boss about a coworker that was falsely reporting the time they worked on our project. For 6 weeks this person falsified their time, even claimed to have worked overtime one week, because the task was holding up the project. The supervisor was aware of everything, even mentioning to me several times how he had noticed this coworker was "goofing off". Each time I responded by showing him a time log created automatically in the project design file for this task, pointing out that this coworker was not putting in the time they claimed to be. After 6 weeks, I emailed the entire time log for the 6 week period to the supervisor, and pointed out the daily time in minutes/day, the date, that was reported. The evidence was incontrovertible, and showed less than a week's worth of time had been worked over the 6 week period. And the task was still not finished, and was 6 weeks overdue. Timecards are mandatory for everyone in our company to comply with federal time charging regulations, as some of the projects in this company are for the federal government.
Our supervisor didn't reprimand this person, instead he got angry at me and tried to say there was a "lack of communication" between myself and this coworker, never mentioning the log file. Concerned that I might be made a scapegoat, I complained to my bosses boss, telling him all about the coworker and the time log, etc... My boss backed down from openly blaming me, but nothing was done about the time card fraud. And since my boss has been hostile towards me, harassing me, and appears to be trying to make me quit. It's obvious he is retaliating against me for reporting this coworker's fraudulent time charging, and so I spoke to his boss again about a month ago because things were getting pretty bad, but it seemed to go in one ear and out the other. And I don't see anything being done to stop my boss. Do I have any legal way to protect myself against retaliation for "blowing the whistle" on this coworker?
Answers (1)
Arizona law prohibits retaliation against whistleblowers, but no legal remedy exists for you unless you are fired. Your conduct may not fit the definition of whistleblowing under the Arizona Employment Protection Act, which defines whistleblowing as reporting violations of the Arizona Constitution or state statutes. Violations of federal law are not mentioned in the statute, and it is not clear whether reporting a violation of federal law is whistleblowing under the common law of Arizona.
Arizona also has a statute dealing with the concept of "constructive discharge," which is what happens when an employer makes working conditions so oppressive that any reasonable employee feels compelled to quit. The statute, when it applies, requires that you give written notice to your employer of the intolerable conditions and allow the employer to correct them. If you aren't actually fired, you would have to prove a constructive discharge to have any recourse.
There may also be protection under federal law, although federal whistleblower protections are specific to certain industries and activities. Again, unless you are terminated there may be no practical remedy available.
posted by Francis Fanning | Oct 7, 2005 2:35 PM [EST]
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