On December 13, the Pennsylvania House Judiciary Committee unanimously passed legislation expanding whistleblower protections “to all judicial branch employees.”
According to a press release from Representative Gerald Mullery (D-Luzerne County), H.B. 661 was approved unanimously by the Committee and now “awaits a full House vote.” The bill amends P.L. 1559, No. 169, or the Whistleblower Law, which was enacted on December 12, 1986.
The proposed bill would expand the Whistleblower Law and extend whistleblower protections to Judicial Branch employees, specifically “those employed by the state’s Supreme, Superior and Commonwealth courts, courts of Common Pleas, minor judiciary, and all other bodies in the judicial branch of state government.”
“It is vitally important we provide all government employees who report waste, fraud and abuse equal protection under the law,” Mullery, who wrote the bill, said in the press release. He expressed his happiness with the bill’s approval and said: “I remain hopeful it will receive similar support before the entire House and Senate so we can protect workers from retaliation and other unfair treatment for coming forward and doing the right thing.”