Although the House/Senate conference committee has yet to issue its official conference report, many news outlets are now reporting that the final language has been approved, and that whistleblower protections for private sector manufacturing employees will be included in the final version of the Consumer Product Safety Commission Reform Act (HR.4040)!
If these reports are correct (and we have no reason to doubt them), and if the President signs the bill -he has not issued a veto-threat, but the administration is currently reviewing the language of the conference report- manufacturing employees will have some of the strongest whistleblower protections in the country. Under the new law, whistleblowers will have access to jury trials in federal courts with strong remedies, including reinstatement, backpay, compensatory damages, and attorneys fees.
Read the whistleblower provision of HR.4040 here, at the NWC’s consumer product safety webpage.