> Or is "reinstatement" simply something the lawyers just have to ask for, to ostensibly make him whole, but they actually neither want nor expect that?

“Reinstatement” is usually a legal formality in whistleblower cases: lawyers ask for it because the law says the remedy for retaliation is to make the employee whole, and it strengthens the case even if nobody expects it to happen. In reality, returning to the job is almost never feasible, so the request mostly serves as leverage for a financial settlement.