The Seattle City Council, in collaboration with the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission (SEEC), significantly expanded the City’s Whistleblower Protection Code. The changes went into effect on January 16, 2014.

The revised code grants employees protection from retaliation for reporting allegations of wrongdoing to their supervisors or chain of command.  The new ordinance also requires the SEEC to train every city department on how to cultivate a culture of support.

Major changes to the Code include:

• Employees who report wrongdoing to their supervisor or other person in their chain of command will now be protected from retaliation.
• The SEEC will now investigate allegations of retaliation.
• If reasonable cause is found that retaliatory actions have occurred, options to address the harm of retaliation are expanded.
• Both the institutional effects of retaliation, such as demotion and transfers, and retaliatory acts by individuals can be addressed and sanctioned.

Click this link for information about how to make a report to the SEEC under the Expanded Whistleblower Protection Code.

The text of the Expanded Whistleblower Protection Code can be found here.