Florida’s private-sector Whistleblower Act (“FWA”) protects only those employees who can show an actual violation of a law, rule, or regulation, a federal district court has held. Graddy v. Wal-Mart Stores East, LP, No. 5:16-cv-9-Oc-28PRL (M.D. Fla. Feb. 14, 2017).
The FWA (Florida Statute Section 448.102) prohibits private-sector employers from retaliating against employees who report employers’ legal violations to authorities or who refuse to participate in violations of the law. To prove a prima facie case under the FWA, the plaintiff must establish that:
- he or she engaged in statutorily protected expression;
- he or she suffered an adverse employment action; and
- the adverse employment action was causally linked to the protected activity.
Confusion as to what employees need to show to claim protection under the FWA has persisted since 2015, when a Florida appellate court, unlike another court, held that the employee must show an actual violation of the law. Kearns v. Farmer Acquisition Co. d/b/a Charlotte Honda, 157 So.3d 458 (Fla. 2d DCA 2015). Another Florida appellate court had held two years earlier that an employee need only show that he or she had a good-faith belief a violation occurred when claiming protection under the law. Aery v. Wallace Lincoln-Mercury, LLC, 118 So. 3d 904, 916 (Fla. 4th DCA 2013).
Since Aery, Florida’s federal district courts have adopted the good-faith belief standard, concluding that Kearns did not directly conflict with Aery, and that Aery was...
