To "blow the whistle," in employment law terms, is to contact the proper authorities to report a violation of law or public trust by one's employer. Since most employers would rather not have whistleblowers on the payroll and are thus subject to retaliation or harassment, states have "whistleblower" laws to protect these employees. While nearly all state whistleblower laws protect public employees, many states also have statutes protecting private-sector workers as well.
North Dakota Whistleblower Protections at a Glance
North Dakota's whistleblower statute protects public sector employees only. The law prohibits any kind of retaliation against a public employee who reports a violation of law or misuse of public funds by his or her employer. If you are a public worker (state, county, or city) who has been unfairly retaliated against, you can file an Employment Retaliation (Whistleblower) Intake Questionnaire and send it to the North Dakota Department of Labor and Human Rights.
See the following charts to learn more about North Dakota's whistleblower protections. See FindLaw's Whistleblowers section for more articles and resources.
| Code Section | 34-11.1- 04, -07,-08 |
| Prohibited Employer Activity | Can not dismiss, withhold salary increase or benefits, transfer, reassign, deny promotion or demote or employee reports in writing a violation of federal or state laws, agency rules or misuse of public resources |
| Employee Actions Protected by Statute | 1. An employee may, without fear of reprisal, report in writing to the employee's respective agency head, a state's attorney, the attorney general, or an employee organization the existence of:
2. For having made a report under subsection 1, no employee will:
|
| Protection for Public or Private Employees? | Public |
| Opportunity for Employer to Correct? | - |
| Remedies | All available legal remedies |
| Penalties | Violation is a class B misdemeanor |
Note: State laws may change at any time, most often when signed legislation is enacted but sometimes through the decisions of higher courts and other means. You should contact a North Dakota whistleblower attorney or conduct your own legal research to verify the state law(s) you are researching.
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North Dakota Whistleblower Laws: Related Resources
