How do laws prohibiting discrimination and retaliation protect whistleblowers?

Laws prohibiting discrimination make it unlawful to treat those with a special legal status differently than other employees because of their special legal status. This special legal status can be race, gender, age, ethnic origin, disability, or, in the case of whistleblowers, the reporting of wrongdoing. Congress or a state legislature determines, when writing a law, who shall enjoy this protected status and, thus, be protected by discrimination laws. These same laws make it illegal to retaliate against an individual who has reported discrimination in the work place or made an effort to oppose discrimination in the workplace, including whistleblower discrimination.

Discrimination prohibited by federal anti-retaliation or whistleblower laws includes a wide variety of actions taken by an employer. Virtually any retaliatory change in the whistleblower's status or terms and conditions of employment may be illegal. Prohibited retaliation can include a wide range of actions, including reprimands, probationary periods, overly-harsh performance appraisals, demotions, failure to promote or transfer, threats to fire an employee, and employment terminations.