The Current State of Georgia Whistleblower Law
It takes a lot of courage to blow the whistle to reveal fraudulent or illegal activities of a company or employer. Transparency International defines whistleblowing as an act of disclosing information about corruption, the fraudulent activities, and illegal practices in or by the private or public sector.
An employee can report the transgression either through internal channels, such as managers or supervisors, or external channels, such as anti-corruption commission or regulatory bodies. The employee may need to hire a whistleblower attorney before “dropping the bomb.”
This article looks at the laws that protect whistleblowers; we will also discuss in subsequent articles, the rewards whistleblowers are entitled to receive in case of accurate information. However, the article does not constitute legal advice, nor does it substitute for reading the statue.
Whistleblower Protection Rights in Georgia
Governments have an ethical and legal responsibility to spend the taxpayers’ money on the people. However, corruption is a social evil that some would say has deeply rooted in our society. Georgia has enacted and enforced strict laws for the protection of whistleblowers so that people can courageously speak out against illegal or fraudulent activities.
Georgia Whistleblower Act (GWA)
The GWA is one of the most important whistleblower protection laws in Georgia that applies to government employees. GWA protects public employees who reveal the misconduct of state or local government agencies.
Under GWA, government employers cannot retaliate against employees engaged in protected activities. It protects the whistleblowers who disclose activities, such as
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Use of deceptive means to gain the state’s money, property, or any other advantage
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Carelessly spending the state or local funds
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Unauthorized use or exploitation of local or state resources
In Georgia, government employers cannot suspend, terminate, demote, or discriminate employees involved in whistleblowing. In addition to GWA, several other laws protect the whistleblowers in Georgia. In fact, the state rewards people/whistleblowers who expose misconduct or corruption.
Relator and Qui Tam Whistleblower Laws
In addition to the GWA, the Georgia Taxpayer Protection False Claims Act protects whistleblowers against retaliation. These Georgia laws restrict employers from taking action against whistleblowers in all forms, including harassment, discrimination, pay reduction, demotion, blacklisting, and denial of employment benefits. Employers must be warned that whistleblowers subjected to retaliation have the right to file a lawsuit against them, called relator actions. Qui tam or whistleblower lawsuit ensures that both public and private companies do not get away with taxpayers’ money, but relator actions protected the whistleblower specifically.
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