CAPLAW General ARRA FAQs

 

Whistleblower Employer Compliance

Question:

What do employers need to know about complying with ARRA’s whistleblower protection provision?

 

Answer:

Non-federal employers receiving ARRA funds must post a notice of employees’ rights and remedies under ARRA’s whistleblower protection provision.

 

These employers are prohibited from discharging, demoting or otherwise retaliating against an employee for making a disclosure of information the employee reasonably believes is evidence of one of the following:

 

• a violation of law, rule, or regulation related to an ARRA contract or grant;
• gross mismanagement of an ARRA contract or grant; gross waste of ARRA funds;
• a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety as related to the use of ARRA funds; or
• an abuse of authority related to the use of ARRA funds.

 

Protected disclosures include those made in the ordinary course of the employee’s duties. These disclosures may be made to a person with supervisory authority over the employee or another person working for the employer who has the authority to investigate, discover, or terminate misconduct. They may also be made to any of the following:

 

• the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board;
• the head of a federal agency or his/her representatives;
• a member of Congress;
• a state or federal regulatory or law enforcement agency;
• an Inspector General;
• the Comptroller General; or
• a court or grand jury.

 

Note that the website www.recovery.gov provides an electronic complaint form for reporting waste, fraud and abuse directly to the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board.

 

ARRA’s whistleblower provision may be found at Public Law No. 111-5, § 1553, 123 Stat. 115, 297 (2009).

 

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