It depends. Almost all whistleblower laws are statutory and vary by jurisdiction and subject. Therefore, it just depends on how the statute is phrased - and alm

It depends. Almost all whistleblower laws are statutory and vary by jurisdiction and subject. Therefore, it just depends on how the statute is phrased - and almost never did the legislature even consider this (or other questions like “What if the whistleblower was wrong?”) So, the results tend to vary considerably.