Date: November 21, 2016
The Washington Business Journal covered a federal jury's decision in favor of two TELG clients who will receive more than $2 million in damages from ManTech International, a large defense contractor that fired them illegally after they filed a whistleblower lawsuit. This verdict was the first to be reported under new whistleblower protections that were introduced by the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013.
Quoteworthy:
"They both knew they had acted with honor at ManTech, yet they were fired for watching out for U.S. taxpayers. ManTech tried to disguise its illegal retaliation, and it hurt both their careers.”
Tom Harrington (Ret.)
[EXCERPT]
ManTech to pay $2M in damages to former employees alleging retaliation
Fairfax-based ManTech International Corp. (NASDAQ: MANT) must pay more than $2 million in damages to two former employees after a jury found the company retaliated against them for blowing the whistle on alleged fraud in a contract proposal.
After a five-day jury, [the TELG clients, a married couple], were awarded a total $800,000 in compensatory damages on Friday. [The husband] will receive $500,000 while [the wife] will receive $300,000.
The Employment Law Group, a D.C.-based law firm that represented the Chantilly couple, said ManTech [also will be] ordered to pay $1.35 million in back pay — $857,846 for [the husband] and $496,370 for [the wife] — and could be on the hook for “front pay” damages, meaning money they could have earned if they were rehired. The “front pay” damages will be determined after a Nov. 29 hearing.
ManTech did not immediately respond to emails requesting comment.
In their initial complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in December 2013, the [couple alleged] that they were both demoted and eventually fired as a result of raising concerns over suspected phony pricing on what was a major $2.5 billion contract.
(Note: This excerpt has been edited to omit the names of TELG’s clients.)
