The common definition of a whistleblower is a person or employee who exposes or reports fraudulent activity within an organization to persons in authority.

The term whistleblower is derived from the act of an English bobby blowing his whistle upon becoming aware of the commission of a crime to alert other law enforcement officers and the public within the zone of danger. Like this corner law enforcement official, the whistleblower sounds the alarm when wrongdoing occurs on his or her “beat,” which is usually within a large organization.

Under the Texas Whistleblower Act, school district employees are protected from retaliation for reporting, in good faith, violations of law by the district or another district employee to an appropriate law enforcement agency. The Whistleblower Act requires that suit be filed within 90 days of the date of the violation, excluding any time spent by the employee exhausting any grievance or appeals procedures related to the termination that are offered by the employer. The limitations period for initiating the grievance process or filing suit begins to run from either the date on which the alleged violation occurred or was discovered by the employee through reasonable diligence.

What is an appropriate law enforcement agency?

A report is made to an appropriate law enforcement authority if the authority is a part of a state or local governmental entity or of the federal government that the employee in good faith believes is authorized to:
Regulate under or enforce the law alleged to be violated in the report; or Investigate or prosecute a violation of criminal law.

What does this mean? It means if you believe it is criminal, report it to the police. If you believe it violates school laws contact TEA. If you’re not sure, contact UEA.

For More Information:  http://www.whistleblowers.gov/