The Roundhouse in Santa Fe (Photo by Peter St. Cyr)
The Legislature has sent two bills to the governor that would enact a state whistleblower protection law.
House Bill 165, sponsored by Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, was unanimously approved by the Senate in the early hours of the morning. And Senate Bill 96, sponsored by Sue Wilson Beffort, R-Sandia Park, was approved by the House on a vote of 61-1 late last night.
Both pieces of legislation would protect public employees from retaliation for exposing wrongdoing. Beffort’s bill, according to the fiscal impact report, would prohibit public employees from retaliating “against public employees who take action, object to, or refuse to participate in a matter they believe, in good faith, to be an unlawful or improper act.”
“Under the act, protected activities of employees include disclosing or threatening to disclose, providing information or testifying about unlawful or improper act(s) of a public employer, or objecting to or refusing to participate in an activity, policy or practice of the public employer that constitutes an unlawful or improper act,” the report states.
Those who retaliate could face monetary damages, a news release states.
Beffort said her bill is similar to one the governor vetoed last year.
Under Cervantes’ bill, according to a news release, a public employer is prohibited from taking retaliatory action against a public employee who:
• Discloses or threatens to disclose activity, policy or practice of the public employer that is unlawful or improper, or that the public employee believes is unlawful or improper.
• Provides information or testifies as part of an investigation, hearing or inquiry into an unlawful or improper act.
• Objects or refuses to participate in an activity, policy or practice that is unlawful or improper.
The bill provides that a public employer is liable to the public employee for:
• Actual damages.
• Reinstatement with same seniority.
• Two times the amount of back pay, with interest.
• Special damages.
• Litigation costs and attorney fees.
“This legislation promotes honesty in the workplace by protecting public employees who come forward to disclose unlawful conduct in state government, or who refuse to be a part of that unlawful activity,” Cervantes said in a news release. “The Whistleblower Protection Act reflects our commitment to protect those who see government service as a public trust. This measure takes the next step by prohibiting retaliation against those who report government corruption.”