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Am I a Whistleblower?

Whistleblowers have received increased attention lately as we have been flooded with images of whistleblowers in today’s political fights. But the media rarely gives a thorough analysis of what it means to be a whistleblower, and the definition can vary depending on the context. Figuring out whether you’re a whistleblower in the employment context and protected by the Minnesota Whistleblower Act and other state and federal laws is complicated and requires careful analysis. Under the Minnesota Whistleblower Act, an employer cannot retaliate against an employee who reports illegal activity, or even suspected or planned illegal activity. The illegal activity doesn’t have to be criminal - it just has to violate a law or rule adopted pursuant to law. Once an employee makes a report, the employee is protected against retaliation by the Minnesota Whistleblower Act. If an employer retaliates against that employee for the employees report, the employee may have claims.

Retaliation often involves termination, but it can include much more subtle actions, like failing to promote someone, starting to paper their file, slowly beginning to set them up for failure, holding them to a higher standard than their co-workers.

In order to have a claim for retaliation under the Minnesota Whistleblower Act, you have to have made a report and suffered retaliation. Sometimes the hardest thing to prove is that the report of illegal activity is what caused the retaliation. This is often where litigation is most contentious and where cases rise and fall. Employers will likely try to suggest that the reason you were terminated against (or adversely impacted in some other way) was because of poor performance, attendance, or some other legitimate reason. You, along with your attorney, will have to show that your report was at least part of the reason for the adverse action.

The lawyers at Conard Law are experienced whistleblower attorneys. The firm has settled cases pre-litigation in excess of $1,000,000 for whistleblower clients, and has won at trial on behalf a whistleblower client.