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.
