“Any person” may timely initiate a whistleblower retaliation complaint under the Taxpayer First Act and similar whistleblower laws, the Labor Department’s Administrative Review Board has ruled. In Barhaghi v. OB/GYN Affiliates & Prosum, the ARB reversed an administrative law judge’s dismissal of a Taxpayer First Act (TFA) retaliation complaint.
The ALJ held that Barhaghi’s complaint was untimely, even though Barhaghi’s father and office manager had made a preliminary telephone call with the complaint details within the filing window.
Upon review, the ARB held that the TFA’s filing rules permit a complaint to be filed by “any person” on the employee’s behalf — including a parent or other lay representative — and that no showing is required that the employee was unable to file the complaint personally. Relying on AIR21 procedures incorporated into the TFA and DOL’s implementing regulation, the ARB explained that complaints may be filed orally or in writing and that the date of a qualifying phone call is treated as the filing date.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC), our affiliated nonprofit membership association, can read more here.