Enterprise Bill Would Weaken Whistleblower Protections

By Mike Holter

(LEGAFI) -- Enterprise Rent-a-Car is pushing to have a bill passed that would weaken protections for whistleblowers.

The so-called “Enterprise bill” has been a top legislative priority of Enterprise Rent-a-Car for the past five years, ever since the company lost a whistleblower lawsuit filed by its former corporate controller, Thomas P. Dunn. Dunn testified in the Enterprise whistleblower lawsuit that he was fired from the company when it was planning to go public because he refused to vouch for Enterprise that it was following the accounting principles required of a public company. Enterprise needed Dunn to declare this in order for them to go public – a course of action Enterprise later decided against.

The aim of the Enterprise whistleblower bill is to remove whistleblower protection from an employee who warns the government that a company is about to violate a law. Under the bill, whistleblower protection would only kick in after the company actually violates the law, so a whistleblower would not be protected while trying to prevent illegal conduct. If the bill had been law when Dunn pursued his whistleblower charges, Enterprise would have won the case.

In addition to having to wait until the illegal act is committed, the Enterprise bill would weaken whistleblower protection in three other ways: (1) the whistleblower would have to prove the act he's blowing the whistle on was actually illegal, not just that he believed in good faith that it was illegal; (2) the whistleblower would have to prove that blowing the whistle was “a motivating factor” in the firing and not just “a contributing factor,” and (3) caps of $50,000 to $300,000 would be added to whistleblower compensation. Current law does not contain caps.

Not surprisingly, many people oppose the bill.

"Why would anyone want to wait until a nuclear plant melts down or Deepwater Horizon blows up before extending protection to a whistleblower who could prevent a disaster like that?” asked one of the lawyers who represents Dunn.

The Enterprise bill has been introduced in the Missouri legislature every year since 2005, but has so far failed to become law.