In an article published in InsideCounsel, Steve Pearlman, co-head of Proskauer’s Whistleblowing & Retaliation Group, lent his insight into recently released statistics showing a thirty-percent increase in the number of whistleblower retaliation complaints filed with OSHA since 2009, and the corresponding need for employers to carefully manage these cases. 

Based on his first-hand observations, Pearlman cautions:

I track these cases all over the country, and it’s a new thing every day, and the allegations are serious.  It starts as an employment retaliation claim, but when the case gets running and the media gets a hold of it, it takes on a life of its own because it implicates a compliance failure.  It can be disastrous if not handled right, both from a goodwill standpoint and a money standpoint.

As a result, employers need to take the necessary measures with every complaint from the outset to avoid costly and disruptive litigation.  Our Top 10 Ways To Minimize Whistleblower Risks is the best place to start.