6C-1-1 Short title
6C-1-2 Definitions
6C-1-3 Discriminatory and retaliatory actions against whistle-blowers prohibited; promotion, increased compensation protected
6C-1-4 Civil action by whistle-blower for violation; limitation on actions; burden of proof; defense; use of evidence in civil service proceeding; grievance action available; other rights and actions not limited
6C-1-5 Redress for whistle-blower
6C-1-6 Civil penalty; termination from public service
6C-1-7 Limitations on scope of construction; protections related to political activity and membership in organization of employee
6C-1-8 Notice to employees of protection of whistle-blowers
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Terms Used In West Virginia Code > Chapter 6C > Article 1 - Whistle-Blower Law

  • Appropriate authority: means a federal, state, county or municipal government body, agency or organization having jurisdiction over criminal law enforcement, regulatory violations, professional conduct or ethics, or waste. See West Virginia Code 6C-1-2
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • Employee: means a person who performs a full or part-time service for wages, salary, or other remuneration under a contract of hire, written or oral, express or implied, for a public body. See West Virginia Code 6C-1-2
  • Employer: means a person supervising one or more employees, including the employee in question, a superior of that supervisor, or an agent of a public body. See West Virginia Code 6C-1-2
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Good faith report: means a report of conduct defined in this article as wrongdoing or waste which is made without malice or consideration of personal benefit and which the person making the report has reasonable cause to believe is true. See West Virginia Code 6C-1-2
  • in writing: includes any representation of words, letters, or figures, whether by printing, engraving, writing, or otherwise. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
  • Judgment: includes decrees and orders for the payment of money, or the conveyance or delivery of land or personal property, or some interest therein, or any undertaking, bond or recognizance which has the legal effect of a judgment. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
  • Public body: means any of the following:

    (1) A department, division, officer, agency, bureau, board, commission, court in its nonjudicial functions only, council, institution, spending unit, authority or other instrumentality of the State of West Virginia. See West Virginia Code 6C-1-2

  • State: means a state of the United States, or the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. See West Virginia Code 48-14-601
  • State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
  • Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
  • Waste: means an employer or employee'. See West Virginia Code 6C-1-2
  • Whistle-blower: means a person who witnesses or has evidence of wrongdoing or waste while employed with a public body and who makes a good faith report of, or testifies to, the wrongdoing or waste, verbally or in writing, to one of the employee'. See West Virginia Code 6C-1-2
  • Wrongdoing: means a violation which is not of a merely technical or minimal nature of a federal or state statute or regulation, of a political subdivision ordinance or regulation or of a code of conduct or ethics designed to protect the interest of the public or the employer. See West Virginia Code 6C-1-2