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Most states have laws that protect employees who believe their employers are violating the law and, as a result, "blow the whistle" on them. The Kansas Court of Appeals recently made it clear that complaints to company management, not just reports to outside agencies, are subject to whistleblower protection. The case gives you a good opportunity to think about how to handle workplace complaints.

An employee of Southwest Kansas Groundwater Management District Three discovered a violation of water use regulations. As fate would have it, the person responsible for the violation was president of the district's board of directors. When the employee returned to the office to write up the violation, his executive director told him not to. His boss claimed that he had already told the board president about the violation and it would be corrected. His boss also happened to report to the board and was currently negotiating for an extension of his employment contract and a raise.

A few weeks later, the employee who noticed the violation complained to a former coworker about how he had been ordered not to issue the required notice. The former coworker reported the matter to the board. The board then summoned the employee to meet with the district's executive committee, which included the president with the suspected violation. The committee interviewed the executive director and several employees about other complaints.

When the investigation was completed, the board instructed the executive director to correct his management style and restored his authority to hire and fire. A few days later, he fired the employee who reported the violation of the board president. He cited several alleged performance and conduct issues that had never been raised and were seemingly inconsistent with his own evaluation of Shaw's performance. The termination notice stated that the employee had shown disregard for authority.

The fired employee sued the district, claiming he was discharged in retaliation for whistle-blowing - specifically, his complaint to the board about being prohibited from sending the formal legal notice to the board president.

Employment in Kansas is at will, meaning you can fire an employee for any reason, with limited exceptions. Generally, you cannot terminate an employee for reporting in good faith a serious infraction of rules, regulations, or laws pertaining to public health, safety, and general welfare. The report may be made to either company management (internal whistle-blowing) or outside agencies (external whistle-blowing).

The court originally dismissed the case before trial, ruling that his actions weren't protected whistle-blowing because he didn't complain to an outside agency or to an outsider with the capacity to correct the alleged wrongdoing. On appeal, the Kansas Court of Appeals rejected the trial court's reasoning that a report has to be made to an outside agency, explaining that Kansas law protects internal reporting to company management as well as reports to outside agencies.

This case gives us several things to consider:

Take all complaints seriously. Although not every report of a workplace dispute constitutes whistle-blowing, internal reports to any level of management of alleged violations of rules, regulations, or the law that implicate public safety, health, or welfare should be treated as protected workplace conduct.
Provide alternative procedures for reporting workplace concerns and develop procedures for the prompt and thorough investigation of reports. Forbid, in both policy and practice, retaliation against employees for good- faith reporting. Train supervisors on the proper handling of such reports and warn them not to engage in retaliatory conduct.
Thoroughly investigate all reports. Even if you conclude that the whistleblower was mistaken in his belief, he still remains protected from retaliation if the report was made in good faith. Warn the accused about retaliation, and carefully monitor to ensure compliance with that warning. If the investigation shows the report was knowingly false or made for corrupt reasons, the whistleblower is not protected and may be disciplined for making the report. Tread very carefully and consult legal counsel in such situations.

Make sure that any action taken against a whistleblower, such as a decrease in pay or hours, transfer to another position, or termination, is justified and well documented. It's a good idea to have such actions reviewed by management, so long as it's not the person accused of wrongdoing.