Lawson v. Bowie State University

In this case we must determine whether whistleblower protections extend to an employee whose decision to disclose possible violations was personally motivated by his desire to “make changes to the department” in which he worked. The employee, Tyrone Lawson, was a seventeen-year veteran of the Bowie State University Police Department (“the Department”) until his termination for violating the Department’s chain of command policy. Specifically, Lawson had drafted a letter disclosing potential abuses by his fellow officers and, feeling unable to report these violations to the Department’s Chief…