Federal Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act Becomes Law

Washington, D.C. November 27, 2012. President Barack Obama signed into law today the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (WPEA). KKC partners, working pro bono, played an instrumental role in passing this Act. Stephen Kohn testified before the Senate Homeland Security Committee and David Colapinto testified before the House Government Oversight hearing in support of the bill.

The bill contains important advances including an expanded definition of “protected disclosure” and permits whistleblowers to collect compensatory damages. Kohn and Colapinto worked for over two years to successfully block three “poison pills” that had been inserted into the law. These “poison pills” would have permitted the MSPB to summarily dismiss cases without a hearing, repealed existing protections for FBI whistleblowers and permitted the executive branch to fire whistleblowers for reporting “minor” violations of law.

Pursuant to this Act, its new provisions will become effective in thirty days. Here is a link to the WPEA.

Obama Signs Whistleblower Protection Bill into Law – Corruption Currents – Wall Street Journal. November 27, 2012