Strengthened Whistleblower Protections For Employees in New York Go Into Effect in January 2022

Beginning January 26, 2022, private sector employees in New York will enjoy stronger whistleblower protections.

Under new changes to New York Labor Law section 740, employers cannot retaliate against an employee who discloses or threatens to disclose to a supervisor or to a public body, an activity, policy or practice of the employer that the employee “reasonably believes” is in violation of a law, rule or regulation, or that the employee reasonably believes poses a substantial and specific danger to the public health or safety.

What This Means:

This is a significant expansion of the whistleblower law. Before the changes, Section 740 only provided whistleblower protection for employees who reported or threatened to report actual violations of law which presented a substantial and specific danger to the public health or safety. Importantly, the amended law will protect current employees, former employees, and independent contractors. The prior law only protected current employees.

The amended statute defines “law, rule or regulation” as: (i) any duly enacted federal, state or local statute or ordinance or executive order; (ii) any rule or regulation promulgated pursuant to such statute or ordinance or executive order; or (iii) any judicial or administrative decision, ruling or order.

Under the law, “retaliatory action” means an adverse action taken by an employer or its agent to discharge, threaten, penalize, or in any other manner discriminate against any employee or former employee exercising his or her rights under this section, including:

(i) adverse employment actions or threats to take such adverse employment actions against an employee in the terms or conditions of employment including but not limited to discharge, suspension, or demotion;

(ii) actions or threats to take such actions that would adversely impact a former employee’s current or future employment; or

(iii) threatening to contact or contacting the United States immigration authorities or otherwise reporting or threatening to report an employee’s suspected citizenship or immigration status or the suspected citizenship or immigration status of an employee’s family or household member to a federal, state or local agency.

Penalties:

An employee whose rights have been violated may file a civil lawsuit within two years after the occurrence. If the employer is found liable, the court may order relief, including reinstatement, compensatory damages, punitive damages, and attorneys fees.