North Carolina § 126-84 - Statement of policy.

§ 126-84. Statement of policy.

It is the policy of this State that State employees shall have a duty to report verbally or in writing to their supervisor, department head, or other appropriate authority, evidence of activity by a State agency or State employee constituting any of the following: A violation of State or federal law, rule or regulation. Fraud. Misappropriation of State resources. Substantial and specific danger to the public health and safety. Gross mismanagement, a gross waste of monies, or gross abuse of authority. Further, it is the policy of this State that State employees be free of intimidation or harassment when reporting to public bodies about matters of public concern, including offering testimony to or testifying before appropriate legislative panels, or providing statements or testimony to agents and employees of legislative panels duly appointed by the President Pro Tempore and/or the Speaker of the House designated to conduct inquiries on behalf of such legislative panels. History (1989, c. 236, s. 1; 1997-520, s. 5; 2018-41, s. 7; 2019-80, s. 1.) Editor's Note. - Session Laws 2018-41, s. 10, made the amendment of subsection (a) by Session Laws 2018-41, s. 7, effective June 22, 2018, and applicable to actions brought on or after that date. Session Laws 2019-80, s. 4, provides: "Effective when this act becomes law [July 4, 2019], the head of each State agency, department, and institution shall notify its employees of the changes made by this act." Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2018-41, s. 7, in (a), in the introductory paragraph, substituted "have a duty" for "be encouraged" and added "any of the following" at the end, and made punctuation changes at the end of (a)(1) through (a)(4). For effective date and applicability, see editor's note. Session Laws 2019-80, s. 1, effective July 4, 2019, inserted "or providing statements or testimony to agents and employees of legislative panels duly appointed by the President Pro Tempore and/or the Speaker of the House designated to conduct inquiries on behalf of such legislative panels" to the end of subsection (b). Legal Periodicals. - For article, "23RD Annual Institute for Law & Economic Policy Symposium: Secrecy: Confidentiality and Whistleblowing," see 96 N.C.L. Rev. 751 (2018).