My boss is the Director of a department in a private institution in Louisiana and has a history of questionable activity and poor management. It did not take long before a new co-worker suspected what we have been dealing with for years.

Another one of my co-workers (a relative of the boss), with whom I was good friends, developed a "friendly" attachment to the new employee. When my friend suspected that the new co-worker and I were also becoming friends, she became jealous and started trouble. When that backfired, she began to complain to me about his "poor" work performance. When I did not agree with her assessment, she told our boss that the new co-worker and I were planning to report the boss to Human Resources for suspected payroll violations such as not reporting vacation and sick leave and for using company property for personal use.

I was given a verbal warning for other issues and he was fired for poor work performance. I believe he was fired because the boss perceived him as a threat.

How do you suggest we proceed from here? Do the actions of the boss merit any type of EEOC or whistleblower complaint? :confused:

P.S. Our Dept. is the one that investigates fraud and abuse. So in my opinion, the new co-worker WAS doing his job.

Protection for whistleblowing is typically found when a person reports or is perceived as potentially reporting an abuse of trust in a situation that has public impacts. Examples of whistleblowing include reporting fraud in a publicly traded company or reporting theft in a government contract.

If your employer is a privately held company without government contracts, chances are that whistleblowing may not be protected.

Please let me know if your employer is publicly traded or is a government entity or a third party working for a government agency and I may be able to assist you further.

I look forward to hearing from you again.

Protection for whistleblowing is typically found when a person reports or is perceived as potentially reporting an abuse of trust in a situation that has public impacts. Examples of whistleblowing include reporting fraud in a publicly traded company or reporting theft in a government contract.

If your employer is a privately held company without government contracts, chances are that whistleblowing may not be protected.

Please let me know if your employer is publicly traded or is a government entity or a third party working for a government agency and I may be able to assist you further.

I look forward to hearing from you again.

I work for a private educational institution that receives government grants, though not directly for my department.

You may very well be protected under whistleblowing statutes. My suggestion is that you go to your Human Resources Department, asking for discretion. Your Human Resources Department should investigate the matter.

By doing so, you will be taking the first step in making sure that documentation exists about your concern about whistleblowing. You should also keep copious notes on your complaint (with the complaint placed in writing). That documentation will be very helpful should you find that the university does not rectify the situation to your satisfaction.

If it isn't rectified, you can then file a complaint with the EEOC. The fact that you tried to give your employer a chance to fix the problem and they did not will greatly aid you in your case.

Best of luck to you and let me know if you have additional questions.