Whistleblower Law Blog

A recent congressional investigation revealed that from 2001 to 2006, the federal government paid more than $1 billion for fraudulent claims under the Medicare program.  According to investigators, medical suppliers defrauded Medicare by using Medicare ID numbers for doctors who were deceased or retired, and by submitting bills with invalid diagnosis codes.  To prevent future […]

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Attorneys at The Employment Law Group® law firm join the Government Accountability Project (GAP) and 226 other diverse organizations in their  petition for Congress to include federal whistleblower protections in the bailout bill.  This week, GAP and other public interests groups delivered a letter to legislators emphasizing the need for comprehensive whistleblower protections, including the […]

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In a report titled, “Running the Gauntlet:  The Campaign for Credible Corporate Whistleblower Rights,” the Government Accountability Project (GAP) calls for an overhaul of whistleblower protection laws for corporate and other private sector employees.  The report documents the need to continue to pass sector-by-sector whistleblower laws and suggests strategies for a “treacherous legal landscape” that […]

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In Ellis v. CommScope, Inc. of North Carolina, a Texas district court judge rejected an employer’s attempt to impose a heightened pleading standard on SOX plaintiffs.  CommScope moved to dismiss on the grounds that Ellis did not plead scienter in alleging that he disclosed shareholder fraud.  The district court rejected CommScope’s “flawed” reasoning, holding that […]

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In Dixon v. U.S. Dep’t of the Interior., the Department of Labor’s Administrative Review Board (ARB) held that Earle Dixon, a federal employee of the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) engaged in protected activity under the whistleblower provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and […]

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Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) and Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) sent a letter to the Department of Labor Secretary Elaine Chao expressing their disappointment with the Department’s overly restrictive interpretation of the whistleblower protection provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (“SOX”).  The letter pointed to a recent Wall Street Journal article reporting that approximately sixty-six percent of SOX […]

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The National Law Journal published a column by principals R. Scott Oswald and Jason Zuckerman of The Employment Law Group® law firm on the Fourth Circuit’s recent decision in the closely watched Sarbanes-Oxley (“SOX”) whistleblower case Welch v. Chao.  The column explains how the Welch decision is in many ways a victory for SOX whistleblowers […]

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In Andrews v. ING North America Insurance Corp., the Department of Labor’s Administrative Review Board (ARB) held that a subsidiary of a publicly-traded company can be a covered employer under the whistleblower provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (“SOX”) i.e., SOX coverage is not limited solely to direct employees of publicly traded companies.  Plaintiffs Andrews and Barron, […]

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Last week, a federal jury awarded Ken Marable $2.8 million in a whistleblower lawsuit against Washington State after finding that Marable’s supervisors retaliated against him for complaining about paycheck padding and misuse of department funds.  Marable, a chief engineer for the ferry system for 34 years, alleged that he was subjected to retaliation because he […]

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On July 22, 2008, the House unanimously approved H.R. 6493 (Aviation Safety Enhancement Act of 2008), to strengthen airline maintenance oversight procedures conducted by the Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”).  The new legislation requires the FAA to conduct monthly reviews of the Air Transportation Oversight System and to rotate principal maintenance inspectors among airline oversight offices […]

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After a three year investigation, Citibank agreed to pay $3.5 million to the state of California to resolve a lawsuit alleging that the company stole funds from its customers’ accounts.  In particular, the suit alleged that Citibank illegally employed a computerized “credit sweep” process that automatically removed positive or credit balances from credit-card customer accounts […]

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