The amendments to New York State's Whistleblower Protection Law, N.Y. Labor Law §740, have significantly changed the landscape of employment law in New York State by broadening the types of claims that employees may pursue against their employers.

Prior to the amendments, which went into effect Jan. 26, 2022, the New York State Whistleblower Protection Law protected employees if their employer was violating a law that either created a danger to public health or safety or constituted health care fraud.  Indeed, many whistleblower cases were dismissed because it was difficult for employees to prove that an actual law was violated. For example, during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic (prior to the amendments) non-healthcare employees such as grocery store workers who complained about not receiving enough masks were not afforded any whistleblower protections because there was no law specifying the number of masks that they should have received. This is no longer the case.

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The New Frontier: The Expanded Law

The amendments brought about several significant changes to the Whistleblower Protection Law, including the following:

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  • The definition of an "employee" has been expanded to include "former employees" and "independent contractors," thus adding two new categories of potential claimants that employers should consider.
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  • Employees no longer need to complain about a violation of a specific law related to public health and safety; they may complain about a wider range of claims, including a violation of any law, rule, regulation or judicial opinion.
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  • Employees no longer need to prove a violation of a law; they only need to have a reasonable belief that the employer's practices may somehow violate a law, rule or regulation.
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  • Protections under the whistleblower statute are afforded to employees whether or not they are acting within the scope of their job duties.

The revamped Whistleblower Protection Law is so broad that all employers, including mom-and-pop shops and the struggling restaurant industry, are now at risk for a deluge of potential claims from employees.