Last year, GOP Congressman Michael Grimm proposed legislation that would steer whistleblowers through companies’ internal systems rather than the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, something he was criticized for at the time. Noting that the legislation “has passed the initial mark-up and is poised for full approval,” the National Whistleblowers Center announced yesterday it is launching a campaign against the “Grimm Act,” which it says ”systematically rolls back every whistleblower provision included in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act.”
“It undermines every major whistleblower protection achieved for corporate employees in the past 20 years. Employees witness fraud every single day, and they are going to stay silent if this bill is passed,” Stephen M. Kohn, the Executive Director of the organization, said. ”It stacks the deck in favor of those who are accused of waste, fraud, and abuse, and it removes the only incentive David has to fight Goliath. This is a green light for corporate fraud. It must be stopped.”
