Date: November 22, 2016
Washington Technology, a Web site for government contractors, reported on a $2.1 million jury verdict in favor of two TELG clients — a husband and wife who both were fired after they filed a whistleblower lawsuit against their employer, ManTech International.
Quoteworthy:
“The jury’s verdict was a strong endorsement of the protections offered by the False Claims Act to good-faith whistleblowers — and a cautionary tale for employers who believe they can get away with retaliation."
R. Scott Oswald
[EXCERPT]
Jury smacks ManTech with $2.1M in damages for firing whistleblowers
ManTech International will have to pay at least $2.1 million to two former employees who claimed they were fired after filing a False Claims Act lawsuit.
A jury ruled in favor of [the TELG clients], husband and wife, on Nov. 18 and ordered that the company pay them $800,000 in compensatory damages and $1.35 million in back pay damages. The total amount could go higher after front pay damages are assessed.
The couple claims they were fired by the company after they raised False Claims Act allegations that the company knowingly underbid the costs of a contract for maintaining mine-resistant vehicles and then billed the government claiming the higher costs were unexpected.
[The husband] was a president and general manager for a unit of ManTech’s Technical Services Group. [The wife] worked within ManTech’s global contingency operations division.
ManTech claimed that they were fired as part of company layoffs, according to a statement from the [TELG] legal team.
(Note: This excerpt has been edited to omit the names of TELG’s clients.)
