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Whistleblower Safeguards
The Whistleblower Protection Code (KCC 3.42) is an avenue for King County employees to report improper governmental action and retaliation. Improper governmental action is defined as any action by a county office or employee undertaken in the course of the employee's official duties that:
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violates any county, state, or federal law |
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constitutes an abuse of authority |
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creates a substantial danger to public health or safety |
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results in a gross waste of public funds |
Improper governmental action does not include personnel actions or authorized action to which an employee or the investigating authority disagrees. Employees may not report privileged information or information that is legally protected from disclosure. Also, the report of an employee's own improper governmental action does not provide immunity from discipline.
Employees who report improper governmental action are protected from retaliation.
Whistleblower complaints must be made in writing to an appropriate investigating official, either the department director in which the proposed improper governmental action occurred or the Ombudsman office. Specific direction as to which agency or individual a whistleblower complaint should be made is provided in KCC 3.42.020(a).
Complaints are investigated by our office or referred to the subject department for investigation. Investigation results are provided to the complainant. Retaliation for whistle blowing should be reported to the Ombudsman office, in writing, within thirty days of the incident.
We encourage employees to review the Whistleblower Protection Code and to pay special attention to the reporting requirements. Ombudsman staff is available to answer employees' questions about the code.
(Please note: The Whistleblower Protection Code
is only applicable to King County employees.)
Whistleblower
Brochure (pdf, 694 KB)
Download a PDF of the "Whistleblower Protection Code" (KCC 3.42). (77.9 KB)
Download a PDF of the "Whistleblower Protection Code Summary." (86.2 KB)
Download a PDF of the "Whistleblower Complaint Form." (56.2 KB)
Download a PDF of the "Whistleblower Retaliation Complaint Form." (56.4 KB)
Alternate
formats for persons with disabilities available upon request. |
