New Whistleblower Protection: The McCaskill Amendment to the Economic Stimulus Bill
Why Attend?
Get the information that's essential to your practice in a convenient, concise, and practical seminar. Don't risk falling behind! As an interactive seminar, the program affords the opportunity to submit questions for faculty discussion in advance of and during the event. This intermediate course of study, comprised of 60 minutes of instruction, provides guidance on the essential issues involved in the new Whistleblower Protection provisions of the Economic Stimulus Bill.
What You Will Learn
The McCaskill Amendment to the Economic Stimulus Bill provides robust whistleblower protection to employees of government contractors receiving stimulus funds and employees of state and local governments. In addition, the Amendment covers a broad range of protected disclosures and provides access to a jury trial in federal court. The McCaskill Amendment reflects a bipartisan consensus that protecting whistleblowers is critical to rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse in federal spending and guarding against dangers to the public health and safety.
If you represent government contractors, state or local governments, or employees of government contractors, knowing about the McCaskill Amendment is critical to your practice—and your clients. This program will examine this significant piece of legislation, touching on:
• Will the whistleblower protections for employees of government contractors receiving stimulus funds apply to internal disclosures?
• Will contractor employees be able to recover compensatory damages in a jury trial?
• What is the scope of protected disclosures?
• Is the burden of proof favorable to employees?
• What defenses are available to employers to avoid liability?
• Will prevaling plaintiffs be entitled to attorney fees and litigation costs?
• Will the McCaskill Amendment preempt other statutory and common law remedies available to employees of government contractors?
• Will the new law result in an upsurge in whistleblower litigation?
• How will the McCaskill Amendment affect the interpretation of similar whistleblower protection laws?
• Does the new law completely eviscerate the “duty speech” defense and does the “duty speech” defense apply to other statutory whistleblower claims?
• What changes to other whistleblower laws are likely to be enacted by this Congress?
• What steps can employers take to avoid whistleblower retaliation claims?
Invest just 1 hour at your home or office to learn about the recently-passed whistleblower protection provision in the Economic Stimulus Bill and its effect on whistleblower law and litigation from this team of experts.
Planning Chair
Robert B. Fitzpatrick, Robert B. Fitzpatrick, PLLC, Washington, D.C.
Jason Zuckerman, The Employment Law Group, P.C., Washington, D.C.
Faculty
Daniel P. Westman, Morrison Foerster, McLean, Virginia
Tom Devine, Legal Director, Government Accountability Project, Washington, D.C.
Total 60-minute hours of instruction: 1.0; Total 50-minute hours: 1.2
Suggested Prerequisite: Limited experience in legal practice in subject matter.
Educational Objective: Development of proficiency in performance of intricate and complex legal tasks within a narrow area, provision of information on recent legal developments; maintenance of professional competence as a practitioner.
Level of Instruction: Intermediate
Times
Eastern 2 pm - 3 pm
Central 1 pm – 2 pm
Mountain 12 noon – 1 pm
Pacific & Arizona 11 am – 12 noon
Alaska 10 am – 11 am
Hawaii 8 am – 9 am
