According to data released by OSHA, the number of whistleblower complaints filed under SOX (Sarbanes-Oxley Act) and the Consumer Financial Protection Act (“CFPA”) declined in 2018.  OSHA received 45 complaints under the CFPA in 2018 (down 50% from the 90 complaints received in 2017) and 155 complaints under SOX (down from the 186 received in 2017).

Whistleblower complaint determinations were also down in 2018, from 3,432 cases resolved in 2017 (whether on the merits, or because the cases were dismissed, settled, or withdrawn) to 2,964 in 2018.

Although the total number of whistleblower complaints under all of the whistleblower protection statues OSHA enforces were also down year over year (from 3,303 in 2017 to 3,007 in 2018), the overall trend is that the number of whistleblower complaints has generally increased over the past ten years (from 2,219 in 2008 to 3,007 in 2018).

Although complaints were temporarily down in 2018, we expect the overall upward trend to continue in future years.