Whistle-blowing contractors now have a higher level of protection against reprisal. Under a provision of the 2013 defense-spending bill, persons who report wrongdoing to their company will be afforded the same protection as those who pursue their complaints through the Defense Department inspector general’s office. The new law took effect with contracts that took effect July 1. Because internal complaints were not protected by existing whistle-blower laws before, "People who did make an internal hotline complaint and believed they were retaliated against had nowhere to get protection," said Nilgun Tolek, an investigator with the DoD IG’s office.
