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Virginia Administrative Code
Title 1. Administration
Agency 42. Office of The State Inspector General
Chapter 30. Fraud and Abuse Whistle Blower Reward Fund
11/21/2024

1VAC42-30-90. Whistle blower protections.

A. Employee protections.

1. No employer may discharge, threaten, or otherwise discriminate or retaliate against a whistle blower, whether acting individually or under the direction of another individual.

2. No employer may discharge, threaten, or otherwise discriminate or retaliate against a whistle blower who is requested or subpoenaed by an appropriate authority to participate in an investigation, hearing, or inquiry.

3. Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit an employer from disciplining or discharging a whistle blower for misconduct or violation of criminal law.

4. If an employee has, in good faith, exhausted existing internal procedures for reporting and seeking recovery of falsely claimed sums through official channels, and if the Commonwealth failed to act on the information provided in a reasonable period of time, no court shall have jurisdiction over an action brought under § 8.01-216.5 of the Code of Virginia based on information discovered by a present or former employee of the Commonwealth during the course of his employment.

5. Any whistle blower covered by the state grievance procedure may initiate a grievance alleging retaliation for reporting wrongdoing or abuse through the WBPA Program and may request relief throughout that procedure.

B. Commonwealth citizen protections.

1. No governmental agency may threaten or otherwise discriminate or retaliate against a citizen whistle blower because the whistle blower is requested or subpoenaed by an appropriate authority to participate in an investigation, hearing, or inquiry.

2. Except for the provisions of § 2.2-3011 E of the Code of Virginia, the WBPA Program does not limit the remedies provided by the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act (§ 8.01-216.1 et seq. of the Code of Virginia).

C. Protection against discrimination and retaliation - good faith required.

1. To be protected by the provisions of this chapter, an employee or Commonwealth citizen who discloses information about suspected wrongdoing or abuse shall do so in good faith and upon a reasonable belief information provided is accurate.

2. Reckless disclosures or disclosures the employee or citizen knows or should have known were false, confidential by law, or malicious are not deemed good faith reports and are not protected.

Statutory Authority

§ 2.2-3014 of the Code of Virginia.

Historical Notes

Derived from Virginia Register Volume 35, Issue 20, eff. June 27, 2019.

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