Employment Lawyer Blog

If you or a close family member has contemplated "blowing the whistle" on your company or organization, you may simultaneously experience a number of conflicting emotions:

Fear

You might worry about your safety, your family's safety, your employability, the company's reputation, your ability to provide for your family, and more.

Excitement

Whistleblowers often wait months, if not years, to "do something" about abuses, environmental malfeasance, corporate rule breaking, etc. When they finally make the decision to call management out on their misdeeds, that decision can feel tremendously empowering. It takes great courage to rise up and speak your mind, especially if you face a "David vs. Goliath" situation.

Uncertainty/confusion

What are your rights as a whistleblower? What compensation can you expect if, for instance, your case is a Qui Tam case? What are the right steps and processes for you to take to protect your legal rights, protect your job (if possible), and protect your reputation? Whom can you trust to guide you to proper resolution and answer your questions along the way.

Anger/disappointment

As you initiate the whistleblowing process, you may experience waves of anger, disappointment, resentment, and sadness as you discover that once close friends and associates either turn their back on you, fail to offer effective support, or even side with "the enemy."

Renewed hope

On the flip side, you might be surprised by the gracious and generous behaviors, gestures, and attitudes of people in your company - and elsewhere - who look after you, protect your reputation, and even join you in your fight for justice.

A Whistleblower Case May be Different Than What You're Picturing In Your Mind

Whistleblowers, as typically depicted in movies and television, are often physically threatened. Maybe an angry boss or co-conspirator throws a rock through the window or commits nefarious and highly personal attacks. But these kinds of behaviors are far rarer than you might think.

On the flip side, you might not be prepared for the extent of the "shunning" you could experience as a whistleblower. Friends at work might feel intense social pressure to distance themselves from you and even to side with management against you. The social/emotional consequences of being shunned can be hard to take, even if you prepare in advance.

Moreover, studies by groups like the Ethics Resource Center suggest that retaliation against whistleblowers may be increasing. In 2007, the ERC found that whistleblowers were retaliated against 12% of the time; in 2011, whistleblowers were retaliated against 22% of the time.

For help preparing yourself and your family for a whistleblower case, or to respond effectively to retaliation, discrimination, or harassment, connect with the team here at Joseph, Herzfeld, Hester & Kirschenbaum. Call the firm at 866-348-7394, or learn more about our services at www.jhllp.com.

The U.S Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division has announced a major coup, after a federal crackdown on illegal practices at Italian restaurants on Long Island.

Investigators found wage and hour violations galore and managed to recover $2.3 million in back wages owed to nearly 600 workers at 46 Italian restaurants and pizzerias. The Department of Labor also leveled more than $200,000 in civil penalties against the employers for repeated violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Employers apparently skirted overtime requirements, falsified payroll, and tried to escape from tax liabilities.

The Director of the U.S. DOL's Long Island District Office, Irv Miljoner, said that investigators found not only violations of minimum wage law and overtime rules, but also a massive number of employees being paid off the books. Some restaurateurs countered that the improper pay structure was necessary for them to compete - they argued that if their restaurants paid fairly, they would have to raise prices, and thus they would lose business to competitors.

This defense seems, at first glance, to make sense. However, once you really consider the logic, it reveals itself as absurd. It's like saying, "I beat my wife because she won't listen to me otherwise." If you can't make a relationship work - whether personal or business - within a legal or moral frame, you probably shouldn't be in that relationship.

The Department of Labor is now turning its laser-like focus on diners in Suffolk and Nassau counties, searching for wage and hour violations. Miljoner issued a statement about that investigation: "We're already finding what we thought we would find."

The attorneys here at Joseph, Herzfeld, Hester & Kirschenbaum have led the charge against New York City restaurant wage and hour violations. Attorney Maimon Kirschenbaum has won fame (or infamy, depending on your point of view) for taking on the largest, most venerated restaurants in the Big Apple and punishing them for mistreating and underpaying their workers.

If you or someone you love or care about has been mistreated, harassed, underpaid, or discriminated against at a restaurant or other establishment, our team can help. Learn more about our commitment to justice at www.jhllp.com, or get a free, confidential, compassionate consultation by reaching out to us at 866-348-7394.

Last week, an Employment Standards Branch Division in Canada awarded $229,000 to 57 tree planters for wage and hour violations - including vacation pay and overtime owed.

The workers for Khaira Enterprises allegedly spent several months last year laboring under grueling conditions. They were grossly underpaid, forced to toil without being adequately fed, compelled to share dirty toilets and work up to 15 hours a day. In addition, employment discrimination and harassment may have occurred. According to a report in the Vancouver Sun: "one man said an employer threw a knife at him... they also complained of racial slurs."

Here are some ghastly highlights from the Vancouver Sun story (January 4, 2011) about the wage and hour violations at Khaira Enterprises:

• "The toilets were grossly inadequate to meet the needs of the number of workers."
• "The company... deducted $25 a day from paychecks for food and accommodation - even if [workers] brought their own food."
• Workers were not paid for holidays or time to travel between sites. Owners of the company were fined merely $3,500 for their mistreatment of the employees..
• Employees' accommodations were unventilated storage containers.
• The camp sites were "unhygienic and unacceptable."
• Employees were provided with unsanitary drinking water.
• Workers had a difficult time filing for unemployment and assistance because "the company recorded fewer hours than they had worked."

A spokesperson for the Federation of Labor for British Columbia called the fine against owners Khalid Bajwa and Hardilpreet Sidhu "a joke" given the deplorable conditions the employees suffered.

What's remarkable about the tree planters' case is that the workers might never have gotten help had outside advocates not stepped in. Even though Canada does not lack a vigorous regulatory system to enforce labor standards, these workers either didn't know about this system or didn't know how to leverage it on their behalf.

The above case illustrates a key problem. Employees forced to work under squalid or unfair conditions - or who are subjected to sexual harassment, racial discrimination, or retaliation for complaining about abuse - can wind up suffering a kind of "Stockholm syndrome." They may even make up excuses for their unfair employers. Indeed, often the hardest part of ending a wage and hour violation situation is that first call for help. The thought of having to go up against an employer who has tyrannized you and your coworkers can be intimidating and scary.

Fortunately, you don't have to fight your own battles. An experienced and powerful law firm, like Joseph, Herzfeld, Hester & Kirschenbaum, can provide you with a confidential free case evaluation at 866-348-7394. You can also learn more about your rights and the law www.jhllp.com.

On July 15th, Congress passed the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act - H.R. 4173 - which provided a number of additional protections for whistleblowers, including a qui tam provision that rewards whistleblowers monetarily for alerting authorities to fraud in the stock and commodities industries. The Act also strengthened anti-retaliatory measures for workers who reveal fraud to commodities agencies and/or the SEC and who give info to the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (a new organization established by the law).

Prior the passage of H.R. 4173, whistleblowers at rating organizations like Standard & Poor's lacked effective protection. The bill fixes the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) to close loopholes, so that employees even at rating agencies can feel free to come forward with allegations of fraud or misconduct. The Executive Director of the National Whistleblower Center, Stephen Kohn, sung praises of the legislation. According to an official PR statement, Kohn said that "[H.R.4173] is one of the most important advances in whistleblower legislation to date...the anti-retaliation laws of the past have not adequately protected the public interest because employees remain afraid to make disclosures."

Kohn also noted that the whistleblower system must have built-in incentives; otherwise, employees might be tempted to allow fraud to go unchecked because it would not be in their financial interest to come forward. While whistleblower advocates generally celebrated this bill, others in the community want further action to protect federal employees, so that they too can feel freer to come forward and expose fraud and corruption and bad practices.

If you or someone you love has witnessed fraud, corruption, or unfair practices, and you are considering blowing the whistle, you are perhaps wrestling with the issue. You may be confused, afraid, and more than a little overwhelmed by what blowing that whistle might mean for your career and legacy, and even what the legal implications might be for you.

To get a free and confidential consultation with the Joseph, Herzfeld, Hester & Kirschenbaum team, call 866-348-7394 or visit the firm on the web at www.jhllp.com. It takes courage, a strong backbone, and a deep sense of ethics to go through with the whistleblowing process. But if you expose fraud and corruption, you can significantly change peoples' lives for the better. Joseph, Herzfeld, Hester & Kirschenbaum attorneys can also talk to you if you have questions regarding harassment, employment discrimination, or retaliation.