Over the past century, a number of federal and state laws restrict the ability of employers to dismiss their employees. Civil rights laws protect employees from being fired on the basis of race and sex, for example. Employers are also prevented from firing employees because of union support, health or safety complaints, or disability by the Wagner Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Federal and state laws also pro¬tect employees who blow the whistle on certain illegal or unethical acts com¬mitted by their employer.