Oregon Whistleblowing Attorney
Whistleblowing Lawyer in Portland
"You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow." That's how Lauren Bacall described whistling to Humphrey Bogart in the 1944 film, "To Have and Have Not." Unfortunately, blowing the whistle in business is not that easy. It's very often fraught with danger of retaliation and termination.
A whistleblower is a courageous person with a strong sense of integrity who reports an employer's misconduct internally or to a public agency. More complex definitions may be used, but the issue is that the whistleblower usually faces retaliation after reporting what he or she, in good faith, believes to be illegal conduct by the employer.
Most common whistleblowers are internal whistleblowers, who report the misconduct to a fellow employee or superior within their company in hopes of its prevention. External whistleblowers, however, report misconduct to outside persons or entities. In these cases, depending on the nature and severity of the information, whistleblowers may report the misconduct to law enforcement or watchdog agencies, or other local, state, or federal agencies.
The misconduct may be classified in many ways; for example, a violation of a law, rule, regulation and/or a direct threat to the public interest, such as waste, fraud, theft from the government or a publicly traded corporation, health and safety violations, patient abuse or neglect, falsification of business records, corruption, etc.
Most states in the U.S., including Oregon, recognize a public policy exception to the at-will employment doctrine. In Oregon, an at-will employee may bring a claim against an employer if that employee was disciplined, demoted or terminated after reporting the employer's illegal conduct. An employee who has been terminated in retaliation for whistleblowing will be entitled to full compensation under the law, including past and future loss of earnings and benefits, reinstatement (only if you want to return to work), emotional distress, punitive damages and even attorney's fees and costs.
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The great achievements in history are almost always accomplished by the courageous. Whistleblowers act courageously to protect others. For the essence of whistleblowing is, in the end, about courage: to have or have not. We at Mitra Law Group are proud to assist you in your quest for an honest work environment and a better world for all of us. If you want to blow the whistle on your employer or have been a victim of retaliation as a result of opposing or reporting your employer's wrongdoing, contact us at (503) 243-4545 or fill out the Contact Form on our website and one of our experienced attorneys will contact you for a free and confidential consultation.