Public-domain · open source
OpenJurist

W. Va. Code § 6C-1-3

Discriminatory and retaliatory actions against whistle-blowers prohibited; promotion, increased compensation protected

Known as the Whistle-blower Law

The act spans §§ 6C-1-1 to 6C-1-8 (8 sections).

Applied in 4 court decisions — leading case 225 W. Va. 699 - Swears v. R.M. Roach & Sons, Inc. (2010)

Most recently applied in Eric Burke v. Wetzel County Commission (June 2018)

How often courts cite this section

2010201810
citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

(a) No employer may discharge, threaten, or otherwise discriminate or retaliate against an employee by changing the employee’s compensation, terms, conditions, location, or privileges of employment because the employee, acting on his or her own volition, or a person acting on behalf of or under the direction of the employee, makes a good faith report, or is about to report, verbally or in writing, to the employer or appropriate authority, an instance of wrongdoing or waste.

(b) No employer may discharge, threaten, or otherwise discriminate or retaliate against an employee by changing the employee’s compensation, terms, conditions, location, or privileges of employment because the employee is requested or subpoenaed by an appropriate authority to participate in an investigation, hearing, or inquiry held by an appropriate authority or in a court action.

(c) No employer may deny a whistle-blower covered by the civil service system, because of his or her status or actions as a whistle-blower, a promotion or other increase in compensation that the whistle-blower otherwise would have received.

Official source: West Virginia Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain West Virginia statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.