Whistleblowers are people who come forward to report misconduct or illegal activities by persons or companies. Whistleblowers are often employees of the company they are reporting, especially companies that deal with health care or the military.
The government wants to encourage whistleblowers to expose illegal activity, so there are several statutes in place to protect whistleblowers against employer retaliation. When the illegal activity being reported involves defrauding a government program, the government further incentivizes whistle-blowing by allowing people to file lawsuits on behalf of the government and keep a portion of the damages recovered.