Heads up whistleblowers: Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) released a study a few months ago grading whistleblower laws for each state. They ranked states based on three categories: coverage, usability, and strength, with a maximum of 33 points for each category. The winner was District of Columbia with 79 points, followed by California with 75 points, and in last place was New Mexico, with a dismal and embarrassing 2 points. PEER also created a database specifying what each state protects, such as disclosures of violations of state/federal law, rules, and regulations, or breaches of professional ethical canons, and also what sorts of remedies states offer for retaliation.
Last week, we released our own study of whistleblower friendliness on state recovery websites, with criteria being a clear hotline and stated whistleblower protections and procedures. Since POGO's study only graded what current whistleblower information was posted on the websites, we would recommend using PEER's invaluable study to find out more about whistleblower laws and protections within each state.
We'd also like to highlight Colorado for their promise to improve accessibility for whistleblowers, as detailed in a recent Denver Post article. Currently, Colorado has no listed whistleblower hotline, protections, or procedures, but (we'd like think in part because of the POGO study) they've posted a phone number for complaints in the interim while a new “whistle-blower reporting feature” will be added to the website by next week.
As another reminder of just how important whistleblowers are, the Justice Department issued a press release today regarding two whistleblower suits filed by the U.S. and 16 other states against drug manufacturer Wyeth for failing to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in rebates. Once again, whistleblowers prove to be our first line of defense against waste, fraud, and abuse.
-- Gracie Bowden
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