Matt Purushotham
Tue, 11/30/2021
New York employees received additional protection for whistleblowing activities on October 28, 2021, when Governor Kathy Hochul signed amendments to the state’s whistleblower law (Labor Law § 740). Among other enhanced benefits, the law affords the following to covered individuals:
- Extends the whistleblower law’s protections to former employees and independent contractors.
- Provides new protection for employees who disclose activities that the employees “reasonably believe” 1) violate laws, rules, or regulations or 2) pose a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety. The old law protected disclosures only of actual violations.
- Eliminates the requirement that employees allow their employer an opportunity to correct the violation before making disclosures to a public body, requiring only that employees make a “good faith” effort to notify the employer, with some exceptions.
- Expands the sorts of adverse actions prohibited by the whistleblower law from only discharge, suspension, or demotion to conduct that would “adversely impact a former employee’s current or future employment.”
Under the law, employees subjected to retaliation may file a lawsuit, in which they are entitled to a jury trial, and may receive remedies including reinstatement lost compensation, punitive damages, and attorneys’ fees and costs.
The amendments go into effect on January 26, 2022. If you are a former or current employee or independent contractor in New York who believes your employer has retaliated against you for reporting illegal or unsafe activity, the amendments to the whistleblower law expand your legal protections. If you have questions about how this important change in the law may have affected you, you can contact MSE at info@mselaborlaw.com.
