Wheaton Whistleblower Protections Lawyer

Employment Law Attorney Standing Up for Whistleblowers in Wheaton, Illinois

When you find out that your employer is doing something illegal or something that could get people hurt, reporting what you know can prevent a lot of harm to a lot of people. Workers who call attention to their employer's illegal, unethical, or dangerous practices protects everyone who might have been affected by your employer's wrongdoing. Even if you were doing the right thing, there is a fairly high likelihood that your employer will retaliate against you. It is not uncommon for whistleblowers to be subsequently fired, demoted, or otherwise driven out of the workplace. Both Illinois and federal laws protect whistleblowers against this type of retaliation.

JSL Law, LLC is committed to protecting employees who blow the whistle on their employers. If you were recently involved in reporting an employer's illegal or dangerous activities to the authorities or calling the situation to the public's attention and have experienced adverse employment action, you might be able to take advantage of whistleblower protections. Experienced DuPage County, IL employment law attorney Jolianne Alexander will do all she can to ensure that you are not punished for doing the right thing. She will stand up for your right to report illegal and dangerous employer practices without worrying that your career will be threatened as a result.

Who is Considered a Whistleblower?

A whistleblower is someone who becomes aware that his or her employer is engaged in illegal practices or putting people in harm's way and reports this information to the proper authorities. This includes employees who realize that their employer is violating labor laws and speak up about it instead of remaining silent. While whistleblowing often does ultimately result in media attention, you only need to report the problem to the appropriate authorities to trigger protections. Simply reporting your employer's wrongdoing to a regulatory agency is normally enough to trigger whistleblower protections.

Examples of protected whistleblowing and impermissible retaliation include:

• Bringing attention to workplace discrimination - Say you work in human resources. You realize that although nearly half of your employees are people of color, none have been promoted to management even though many are more qualified than the white employees who are being promoted. You report this as a violation of equal employment opportunity laws. A week later, you are given a poor performance review for making the report and are denied a routine pay raise.
• Reporting a dangerous product - Say you work for a company that makes baby products. You find out that there is a defect with an infant swing your employer produces that could cause the swing to abruptly collapse and injure a child. Your employer refuses to pull the product, so you go to a regulatory agency and report the danger. You are fired, allegedly for violating a non-disclosure agreement you signed when you got your job.
• Reporting illegal trade activity - Say you work in the financial sector. You become aware that your employer is engaged in insider trading or other prohibited practices. You contact the FBI and are prepared to testify against your employer. Your employer demotes you to an entry-level position.
• Reporting unsafe working conditions - Say you find out that your employer has no working fire detectors or carbon monoxide alarms in the building. You report the issue to OSHA and your employer is cited. You try to change jobs for personal reasons, but find that you cannot get a job in your industry because your employer is only saying negative things about you to prospective employers even though you have an excellent record at your job.

Often, these categories overlap. For example, if you work in a restaurant and report safe food handling violations, you are both reporting unlawful activity and acting to prevent danger to the public.

Contact a Wheaton, IL Whistleblower Protections Attorney

JSL Law, LLC is committed to protecting whistleblowers who have reported their employers' dangerous or illegal activities. Experienced whistleblower protections lawyer Jolianne Alexander will do all she can to help you continue on your career path without fear of retaliation. Contact us at 630-730-8135 for a complimentary consultation.