Through its Legal Assistance Program, the National Whistleblower Center helps those who may have witnessed criminal activity by corporations or governmental bodies to decide whether and how to step forward and report the wrongdoing to authorities.
Whistleblowers are protected and rewarded under an extensive body of U.S. laws, including but not limited to the:
- False Claims Act / qui tam (which regulates fraud in Medicare, Medicaid and other government procurements);
- Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (which regulate foreign bribery);
- Dodd-Frank Act (which regulates fraudulent statements to shareholders and the public by publicly-traded companies);
- Lacey Act (which regulates illegal trade in wildlife, fish, and plants);
- Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (which regulates illegal discharges of pollution into the ocean by U.S.-flagged vessels as well as foreign-flagged vessels that enter U.S. ports and navigable waters).
Many of these laws provide for confidential reporting to law enforcement, preservation of the whistleblowers’ anonymity and rewards to the whistleblowers when their information leads to civil or criminal penalties. The laws protect and reward whistleblowers regardless of whether they are employed by the wrongdoer and regardless of whether the whistleblowers are U.S. citizens.
NWC educates whistleblowers inside and outside the U.S. about the risks and rewards of doing the right thing in the face of wrongdoing. Throughout this website, you will find extensive information about laws protecting whistleblowers against retaliation and providing for financial rewards. NWC also makes available on this website the Whistleblower’s Handbook, a detailed guide to whistleblowing authored by leading whistleblower attorney (and NWC Board Chairman) Stephen Kohn. Perhaps most importantly, NWC provides a confidential web portal for whistleblowers to submit basic information about the wrongdoing they have witnessed and to be connected to a qualified attorney.
Given the complexity of whistleblower law and the importance of minimizing risk to safety and livelihoods, NWC recommends that whistleblowers work with a qualified attorney before distributing information about wrongdoing.
Your privacy is important to us. We consider all communication to the Legal Assistance Program to be strictly confidential. Attorneys working with NWC’s partner organization, the National Whistleblower Legal Defense and Education Fund (NWLDEF) will review the information provided. In addition, if you do not wish to submit this form online, you may print it out, fill in the answers and send it via postal service.
It is the strict policy of NWC and NWLDEF that the confidential report you submit remains confidential. We consider the submission and content of this form to fall within the confines of the attorney-client and work product privileges and will treat the information we receive accordingly. Please understand that although we consider your communication with us to be privileged, we are not your attorneys and do not represent you.
To arrange for an Enforced TLS Agreement between your organization and NWC please contact info@whistleblowers.org. TLS is a cryptographic protocol that secure communication over a network by using security certificates to encrypt a connection between computers. To encrypt the message you need to use an encryption technology that encrypts the message contents. If you do not have access to such technology please request that the party you wish to communicate with instantiate an encrypted email communication.
For additional information on TLS, please review the following websites:
If you hire an outside attorney to represent you, the NWLDEF will have no further involvement with your case. Furthermore, it is up to you to independently evaluate the quality of any attorney/law firm you may hire, even if that attorney is affiliated with the NWLDEF. An introduction to an attorney or law firm does not constitute an endorsement of the attorney or law firm. The NWLDEF’s review of your form is a pro bono public service.
Please read the FAQ page for more information.
Click To Fill Out A Secure and Confidential Form
If you have a question about the form or want to confirm it was received, e-mail the intake coordinator at help@whistleblowers.org.
WARNING: Do not use your professional email or any computer network or devices owned by your employer when communicating with us.
Please Note: Our organization works hard to respond to all inquiries on a timely basis. In instances where you expect a response but do not see one in your inbox, please check your “Spam” or “Junk” folder.
| Practice Areas Listed in Directory | Corresponding Code | Practice Areas Listed in Directory | Corresponding Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| Civil Rights | CR | Military Whistleblowers | MilW |
| Corporation – Sarbanes Oxley Whistleblowers | SOX | National Security Employees | NSE |
| Discrimination EEO | EEO | Nuclear Safety Whistleblowers | NSW |
| Occupational Safety Whistleblowers | OSHA | Dodd-Frank Act | D-FR |
| Educational/Higher Education Whistleblowers | EDU | Privacy Act | PA |
| Environmental Health and Safety Whistleblowers | EHSE | Securities and Exchange Commission Whistleblower SEC | SEC |
| Security Clearance | SC | Fair Labor Standards Act | FLSA |
| False Claims Act/ qui tam | FCA | State Statutory or Common Law Claims | SS/CLC |
| Federal Employee Whistleblowers | FEW | Tax Whistleblower | TW |
| Food Safety Whistleblowers | FSW | Transportation – Trucking | T-T |
| Fraud Whistleblowers | FW | Transportation – Rail | T-R |
| Government Contractor Whistleblowers | GCW | Transportation – Air | T-A |
| International Clients | INT | Transportation – Trucking, Rail, Air | T-TRA |
| Medical Whistleblowers | MedW | Veterans Affairs Hospital Workers | VAHW |
| Wildlife Whistleblowers | WL |
Attorneys – Get Listed in the National Whistleblower Center’s Whistleblower Attorney Directory
If you are a licensed attorney in good standing with your bar and interested in being listed in the NWC’s Whistleblower Attorney Directory contact us here: help@whistleblowers.org.
Learn more about the Whistleblower Attorney Directory.
This page is sponsored by the NWLDEF.
