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Whistleblowing in the United States has seen a record year, with the Securities & Exchange Commission rewarding eight whistleblowers a total of US$37 million. Who hasn’t heard about Dieselgate — exposing Volkswagen’s faked emission tests and severely tarnishing the German automaker’s green image and slowing worldwide sales?

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Howard Levitt: Just what your rights are in regards to some commonly held beliefs about employment law might surprise you.





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While the essence of whistleblowing is to expose an employer’s wrongdoing to the authorities, it is also important to understand its implications in Canada’s employment legislation.

Employees have a legal duty of loyalty to their employer. This obligation is so fundamental to the relationship that it binds employees without having to be spelled out in writing. Whistleblower legislation creates an exception to that duty.