A "whistleblower" is an employee who reports a violation of the law by his or her employer. The violation may be against the reporting employee, as with sexual harassment claims, or may be a general violation such as unlawful pollution practices against environmental law.
The federal government and many states have laws protecting whistleblowers from retaliation for filing a claim or reporting a violation. In addition, most states recognize a common-law claim against an employer who takes action against an employee after he or she has reported a violation of law.
A Texas whistleblower, Michael Riddle, who had alleged that he had been marginalized and terminated at Dyncorp International after he pointed out that the company had failed to perform a government contract properly, recently received some good news at the courts, notes FindLaw's Fifth Circuit Blog.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the lower District Court that had thrown his case out for having been filed too late.
Without getting into the nitty-gritty of the statute of limitations discussions related to the Texas Whistleblower Act (TWA) -- and how it is similar or different than the federal False Claims Act -- we can note that if you are a whistleblower in Texas, you have to pursue an administrative remedy before suing under the TWA, reports FindLaw. And, you have 90 days to do this. However, instances can arise, like in Michael Riddle's case, where the kind of wrongful discharge a whistleblower suffered might allow for a longer filing time-limit, like up to two years. This obviously makes a huge difference in a retaliation case.
In short, now you have gotten a good look into the kind of discussion that Texas employment lawyers representing whistleblowers end up having to engage in. The complexity of these arguments is one reason why a Texas whistleblower should get an attorney as soon as possible.
Related Resources:
- Find a Houston Employment Law attorney (FindLaw)
- Whistleblower Protections (FindLaw)
- Whistleblower Retaliation Could Land You In Trouble (FindLaw)
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