Federal agencies that enforce whistleblower laws report an across-the-board increase in tips and complaints alleging unlawful activity by employers, as well as an increase in complaints alleging unlawful retaliation against whistleblowing employees, fiscal year 2023 statistics show. The four government agencies are the Justice Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The Justice Department reported that it recovered nearly $2.7 billion under the False Claims Act, an increase of almost $450 million over the $2.2 billion it recovered in FY 2022. The SEC’s Whistleblower Office reported a record 18,354 whistleblower tips under the Dodd-Frank Act, a whopping increase of 49% above the 12,322 tips reported in FY 2022. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission Whistleblower Program received 1,530 whistleblower tips and complaints, a slight increase over the 1,506 filed in FY 2022, but another record high. OSHA, which enforces whistleblower protections for more than 20 federal laws, reports that it received 3,243 whistleblower retaliation complaints, a nearly 15% increase above the 2,832 it received in FY 2022.
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