Educating whistleblowers and assisting them in finding competent legal assistance is a top priority of the National Whistleblower Center. NWC helps whistleblowers exercise their rights in the following ways:
- educating and training potential whistleblowers through workshops, reports, and regular postings to our website, blog, and social media channels; and
- supporting high-impact whistleblower litigation.
How does NWC support high-impact whistleblower litigation?
In a limited number of cases, NWC may determine that the success of a case will be critical for strengthening whistleblower protections and combatting corruption. In this event, NWC may elect to donate staff time to support the case.
Working on these high-impact, NWC-supported cases provides three unique benefits to whistleblowers and the cause of whistleblowing.
Although it is not a law firm and does not provide legal services, NWC supports high-impact whistleblower cases with communications and policy work. The National Whistleblower, Legal Defense and Education Fund serves as the NWC’s attorney in these cases.
NWC takes a “campaign approach” to these selected cases, mobilizing its grassroots supporters as well as its bipartisan allies on the Hill and within agencies to call attention to the myriad benefits the cases provide to the public. It also works to strengthen and defend the whistleblower laws on which the cases depend.
An example of how NWC assists with communications is its work supporting an anonymous whistleblower challenging Facebook’s deception of shareholders and others regarding terror and extremist content on its website. In May 2019, NWC worked with the Associated Press to produce a hard-hitting story on a pending whistleblower petition before the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to help the whistleblower increase the visibility of their case before the SEC. The Associated Press also published an update in September 2019 following a supplemental filing.
An example of how NWC provides policy support is its work in Congress to address delays in tax fraud whistleblower cases. In July 2019, the Taxpayer First Act was signed into law and included anti-retaliation protections proposed by NWC for tax fraud whistleblowers who file claims under the IRS whistleblower program. The Act also included measures proposed by NWC that improve IRS communication with tax whistleblowers about the status of their submissions. NWC had long championed these provisions, and the passage of the Act marked a success for all tax fraud whistleblowers.
Notice: The information on this Web site is provided for informational and/or educational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. Read the full disclaimer here. The Fund is managed independently from NWC. NWC has no responsibility for actions taken by the Fund.
Whistleblowers looking for legal assistance should review the resources here.
