"When workers see rats in the food, they must be able to sound the alarm," said Stephen M. Kohn, Executive Director of the National Whistleblowers Center (NWC), based in Washington. "Employees who blow the whistle on food contamination will finally obtain protection," Kohn added.While the NWC continues to push for a comprehensive, national policy and basket of protections for whistleblowers in all sectors of the economy, the Food Safety Whistleblower Act will arm the prospective whistleblower with a greater degree of confidence and whistleblower rights to move forward with a whistleblower claim without fear of retaliation from an employer in the food services and manufacturing industries.
Provisions in the updated Act include coverage for all employers "engaged in the manufacture, processing, packing, transportation, distribution, reception, holding or importation of food."
The Act also allows workers to have their case heard before a jury in federal court, together with provision for reinstatement, back pay and compensatory damages.
Kohn, in a statement released December 21, noted that Congress had closed a "terrible loophole in whistleblower protection laws," without referring to the specific loophole. Nonetheless, "this should serve as an example for legislative action needed to protect other workers who still fall outside the safety net, including those who work in the offshore oil oil-drilling industry," Kohn said. " We urge all Americans to sign [the NWC petition] asking Congress to pass a national whistleblower protection law."
The Whistleblower Act, as it currently exists, allows individual citizens to bring a lawsuit on behalf of the US Government if the whistle blower is witness to, made aware or comes into possession of evidence suggesting wrongdoing or fraud against the Government that sometimes can put innocent people in harm's way. If the Government decides to take up involvement in the case, the whistleblower is entitled to a portion of any monies or settlements recovered from any attempt to defraud government entities.
However, what has been spotty, according to critics, is protection for a whistleblower from reprisals from a disgruntled employer. This latest basket of whistleblower rights for food safety workers as part of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act will help to cushion any potential fallout for doing, in the end, what is right and just.
READER COMMENTS
LARRY STONE
on
Agencies state the manufacturer must generate the recall and the FDA and USDA not having the authority to initiate this action as the reason bad food gets into the system .This is not so ,I am proof of this statement not being accurate. Even when the USDA went and found this contaminated warehouse with live rodents they never tested any product for salmonella and co-operated with the state of Florida to use possible contaminated ingredients in further meat processing.
I applaud your very fine story and comments and appeal to you to visit my blog site http://bullstone-larrym.blogspot.com/ and see the evidence of rat fecal contamination in meats produced by an instrument of the State of Florida department of Corrections. I have been battling with the USDA to issue a recall on the millions of pounds of meat the State of Florida produced under contract for my company. This meat was distributed nation wide to schools, supermarkets and institutions. When we discovered that this Florida State division was storing food supplies and edible ingredients in a rat infested warehouse we began our quest to get this information to the public and get accountability placed on those who allowed this to happen. When you read the information on my blog you will see the validity of both our stories .I support your efforts and request your support of mine. Regards Larry Stone