Whistleblower Law Blog
Federal Jury Awards Whistleblower $3.5 Million in Alaska Retaliation Case
A federal jury awarded whistleblower Paul Blakeslee $3.5 million after finding that his former employer fired him for reporting suspicious dealings by a manager of the company’s maintenance work on Alaskan military bases.
Tech Supplier Pays $5.66 Million to Settle Claims of Overbilling, Trade Violations
A big technology distributor will pay $5.66 million to settle a whistleblower’s claims that it overbilled and underpaid the U.S. government — and also sold it Chinese-made products, in violation of federal trade law.
Conrail Must Reinstate Conductor While Appealing Retaliation Verdict, ARB Rules
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Administrative Review Board (ARB) refused to delay the reinstatement of a train conductor who was fired after repeatedly reporting safety violations.
University of California Pays $1.2 Million to Settle Medicare Fraud Claims
The University of California will pay $1.2 million to settle a whistleblower’s claims that one of its teaching hospitals submitted false Medicare and Medicaid claims.
Dennis O’Connor, a former professor and anesthesiologist at U.C. Irvine (UCI), will receive $120,000 for his role in the case; the remainder goes to the U.S. government. In his lawsuit, Dr. O’Connor alleged that UCI routinely gave patients anesthesia without a doctor being present, in violation of federal requirements.
Arizona Hospice Will Pay $12 Million to Settle Claims It Treated Ineligible Medicare Patients
An Arizona hospice company will pay $12 million to settle charges that it bilked Medicare by inflating bills and admitting patients who weren’t ready for end-of-life care.
Obama’s Budget Plan: Protect IRS Whistleblowers from Retaliation
President Obama’s proposed budget for fiscal 2014 includes good news for whistleblowers: Under his plan, the law finally would protect people who report tax cheats to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Menendez Redux: Halliburton Whistleblower Finally Gets Retaliation Award
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Administrative Review Board (ARB) revisited a long-running case, once again ruling against Halliburton, the oilfield services giant, for retaliating against a whistleblower who reported accounting irregularities to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The ARB awarded financial executive Anthony Menendez $30,000 in damages, plus costs and lawyers’ fees.
Whistleblower Says Meningitis-Linked Pharmacy Ignored His Warnings
Whistleblower Joe Connolly appeared on 60 Minutes to accuse his former employer, the compounding pharmacy linked to 53 deaths from fungus-tainted shots, of ignoring warnings and destroying evidence of contamination at its lab.
Connolly, a lab technician and former employee of the New England Compounding Center (NECC), told the CBS News program that his supervisor literally shrugged when Connolly told him last year that the lab was overextended and likely to start making mistakes. Mold had been found in NECC’s “clean room” about a dozen times over three years, Connolly said.
Supreme Court Confirms Lower Hurdle for Investor Fraud Suits
The U.S. Supreme Court made it easier for investors to gain class-action status when suing companies for securities fraud, making such lawsuits more likely in the future.
In Amgen v. Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds, the Court allowed class certification to be granted on a “fraud on the market” theory without any proof that a company made a “material misrepresentation” in its public statements; plaintiffs may merely assert the fraud.
First False Claims Act Tax Recovery in New York; Whistleblower Awarded $1.1 Million
A well-known New York City tailor pled guilty to tax-evasion charges and separately agreed to pay $5.5 million to settle a related whistleblower case brought under New York State’s False Claims Act (FCA).
The whistleblower, Vijay Tharwani, a former employee of the tailor, will receive $1.1 million of the settlement.
The case marked the first time the state’s recently strengthened FCA has been used successfully in a tax case; in 2010, New York became the first state to authorize citizens to sue tax cheats on its behalf.
The Employment Law Group® law firm produces this blog to provide general news and information about the field of whistleblower law. The blog does not contain any legal advice upon which you should rely or act. Please read our disclaimer.
Editor-in-Chief
R. Scott Oswald
Contributing Editor
Laurence Hooper
Popular Topics
- Administrative Review Board (ARB)
- Dodd-Frank Act
- False Claims Act (FCA)
- Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)
- Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
- Medicare Fraud
- Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
- Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX)
- Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
- Securities Fraud
- Tax Fraud
- Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
- Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA)
