Mayor Signs Garodnick Bills Expanding Whistleblower Protections

In May, the New York City Council passed two bills authored by Council Member Dan Garodnick: the Whistleblower Protection Expansion Act and the False Claims Notification Act.  On June 20th, Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed both bills, significantly enhancing the City’s ability to protect taxpayer dollars from abuse.   

The Whistleblower Protection Expansion Act and the False Claims Notification Act will take effect 90 and 120 days from passage, respectively. 

The City already has laws in place to protect City employees from retaliation should they report fraudulent or illegal activity.  The Whistleblower Protection Expansion Act extends that protection to employees of City contractors and subcontractors with contracts in excess of $100,000, and creates a right of legal action for any employee who believes he or she was the subject of employer retaliation.  The False Claims Notification Act requires these contractors to post a notice informing employees of how to report allegations of false claims, fraud, criminality and/or corruption, including how to contact the City’s Department of Investigation.

To ensure that City contractors are aware of this new protection, Council Member Garodnick will be sending notification to the 50 largest City Contractors. 

"We need to keep a closer eye on how our money is being spent, by empowering people in the best position to spot problems early," said Council Member Garodnick.  "We are relying heavily on outside contractors today, so let's put strong checks in place to protect against fraud and waste of taxpayer money."  The City has more than 17,000 contracts with outside companies totaling about $10 billion dollars – over one seventh of the total City budget.