The chances of winning a lawsuit claiming you were wrongly retaliated against are not good, but they are improving. The rate of winning in administrative hearings under federal whistleblower laws has risen from under 10 percent to about 25 percent in recent years in "reported decisions". However, many cases are thrown out on procedural grounds and "unreported decisions" tend to go against whistleblowers (Faulkner, 2003).
Beyond the risks of job loss and weak legal protection there is also an emotional and mental price to pay for whistle blowing. Friends may turn against you; co-workers may treat you as an outcast. One should not blow the whistle unless they are prepared to follow through with the charges. It will be difficult to stop in mid-stream and as a general rule it is better to have looked the other way than to have blown the whistle half way. The legal protections that exist will not stop your employer from retaliating. The best the law can do is some day provide hope for illegal retaliation.
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