Hey y’all. Jim Jr. here.
A lot of my friends up here in NYC have been asking me about how things are done in GA. I knew that there was a whistleblower law that supposedly protects whistleblowers in the workplace. In doing research for this blog, the first thing to appear in Google was the following link. Ironically, it comes from UGA and the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. It really spells everything out, plain and simple.
http://www.caes.uga.edu/intranet/coextopr/policies/documents/WhistleblowerAct.pdf
However, we can get into more detail. The following information was taken from peer.org (Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility) and does not make my home state look good. http://www.peer.org/assets/docs/wbp2/ga.pdf
For the whistleblower law, out of a possible 100 points, GA scored a 31. Out of 51 positions (50 states and the District of Columbia), Georgia ranked 49th. In my opinion, we need to fix this ranking instead of worrying where the Bulldawg football team falls. I’d rather have people be in a safe work environment than be the national football champions. But then I’ve always been a radical.
According to this document, “O.C.G.A. 45-1-4 provides that no public employee shall retaliate against a public employee for disclosing a violation, or noncompliance with, any federal or state statute or any rule, … to either a supervisor or any agency of the federal or state government charged with the enforcement of laws, rules, or regulations. … The term ‘retaliate’ refers to any action taken by a public employer against a public employee which adversely effects the terms and condition of their employment.” Do I really need to break this down for y’all? Can’t wait to see how UGA tries to defend itself!
What's A Poor Whistleblower to Do? 