It depends.....whistleblowers have federal and state protections. I would see this as a form of retaliation which is prohibited conduct by the employer. Was she a dominion employee? They might be violating the whistleblower protection act or certain employment laws that prohibit intimidation or retaliation by the employer to an employee reporting fraud.
I'm not entirely sure whistleblower protection applies to this context. Generally, if such a law applies, you are protected only for disclosing information you "reasonably believe" is evidence of a crime (or another protected category). Defamation, on the other hand, requires the plaintiff to show that the defendant knowingly or recklessly disclosed false information.
Thus, if you prove defamation, you likewise overcome the whistleblower protection hurdle.
That sounds better than I'd have expected. However, whistleblower protection has gone into the crapper in america (and other countries never had that in first place -- "fouling up your own nest" is what other cultures use for "whistleblower").
Is it nasty? Yes. Is it witness intimidation? No.
This reads like a demand letter prefacing a civil suit against Carone for defamation.
It depends.....whistleblowers have federal and state protections. I would see this as a form of retaliation which is prohibited conduct by the employer. Was she a dominion employee? They might be violating the whistleblower protection act or certain employment laws that prohibit intimidation or retaliation by the employer to an employee reporting fraud.
I'm not entirely sure whistleblower protection applies to this context. Generally, if such a law applies, you are protected only for disclosing information you "reasonably believe" is evidence of a crime (or another protected category). Defamation, on the other hand, requires the plaintiff to show that the defendant knowingly or recklessly disclosed false information.
Thus, if you prove defamation, you likewise overcome the whistleblower protection hurdle.
That sounds better than I'd have expected. However, whistleblower protection has gone into the crapper in america (and other countries never had that in first place -- "fouling up your own nest" is what other cultures use for "whistleblower").