On November 27, 2012, President Obama signed S. 743, the “Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2012.” The Act is a significant enhancement to existing whistleblower protections for federal employees. The Act passed both houses of Congress with unanimous support.
The Act expands the protections of the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989. According to a White House statement, the Act “amends whistleblower protections for Federal employees by: clarifying he scope of protected disclosures; tightening requirements for non-disclosure agreements; expanding the penalties imposed for violating whistleblower protections; and establishing a Whistleblower Protection Ombudsmen in certain agencies.”
In part, the Act seeks to correct certain court decisions that narrowed the scope of protected disclosures by federal employees. Significantly, Section 101, entitled “Clarification of Disclosures Covered,” states that the following disclosure scenarios are not excluded from the Act’s protections: (1) the disclosure was made to a supervisor or a person who participated in the subject activity of the disclosure event; (2) the disclosure revealed information that had been previously disclosed; (3) the disclosure is not impacted by the employee’s motive; (4) the disclosure was not made in writing; (5) the disclosure was made while the applicant was off duty; (6) the disclosure is not impacted by the amount of time that has passed since the disclosure event, and (7) the disclosure is made during the normal course of the employees’ duties. The Act also extends whistleblower protections to employees of the Transportation Security Administration.
In a press release, Senator Ben Cardin, a co-sponsor of the Act, stated that “[t]his legislation takes a giant leap forward in ensuring that legitimate disclosure of wrongdoing will be protected and accountability to taxpayers increased greatly.”
Brian Stolarz is the attorney responsible for the content of this article.