Whistleblower Law Blog

The SEC has agreed to pay $755,000 to settle a wrongful discharge claim brought by former employee Gary J. Aguirre.  Aguirre, an attorney at the SEC, headed an investigation of Pequot Capital Management for insider trading.  After urging management at the SEC to issue a subpoena for Wall Street banker John Mack, Aguirre was discharged.  [...]

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On June 28, 2010, the Supreme Court issued an opinion upholding the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in Free Enterprise Fund v. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.  The Court ruled that in order to maintain a constitutional separation of powers, Securities and Exchange Commission must be allowed remove members of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board at will.  [...]

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On May 26, 2010, the Department of Labor ordered UPS to pay one of its drivers $111,008 in back wages, benefits, compensatory damages, punitive damages, and attorney’s fees for violations of the whistleblower provision of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act (STAA).  According to OSHA, UPS terminated the driver for refusing to drive a truck and [...]

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On June 18, 2010, the Washington Business Journal wrote an article discussing the False Claims Act retaliation lawsuit filed by Robert Fagg against his former employer SmithGroup.  The article is titled “Fired SmithGroup engineer files whistle-blower suit.”  Robert, a former vice president in charge of quality-control reviews, raised numerous concerns about serious defects in mechanical [...]

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On April 2, 2010, a False Claims Act qui tam action against Oracle Corp. and Oracle USA, Inc. was unsealed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.  Oracle entered into Multiple Award Schedule agreements with the GSA.  Under these agreements, the federal government is supposed to receive discounts “equal to or [...]

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According to a Department of Justice press release dated June 4, 2010, St. Jude Medical Inc., a heart device manufacturer, Parma Community General Hospital, and Norton Healthcare have settled allegations of an illegal kickback scheme for $3.8 million.  According to the press release, the kickbacks caused false claims to be submitted to federal health care [...]

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On June 1, 2010, OHSA ordered U.S. Bank in Seattle to reinstate a former manager fired in retaliation for filing an internal complaint alleging securities and bank fraud by company employees.  The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) protects employees who engage in protected activity by providing information that the employee reasonably believes constitutes a violation of federal [...]

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On May 20, 2010, OSHA ordered CSX Transportation, Inc. to rescind disciplinary actions and pay a whistleblower $5,000 in punitive damages.  According to OSHA, CSX violated the Federal Rail Safety Act when it disciplined the employee for repeatedly reporting safety concerns to management. The employment attorneys at The Employment Law Group® law firm have experience [...]

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On May 5, 2010, OSHA ordered Worldwide Jet Charter LLC to reinstate a pilot discharged for reporting alleged violations of FAA regulations. The order requires the employer reimburse the pilot for lost wages and pay compensatory damages of more than $21,000 and attorney’s fees of $24,610.  Under the Wendell H. Ford aviation Investment and Reform [...]

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TELG Principals Scott Oswald and Jason Zuckerman published an article in the May 27, 2010 edition of Law360 titled “Whistleblower Protection In The Finance Reform Bill.”  The article discusses the Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010 (S. 3217), which the Senate passed on May 20 by a vote of 59-39.   The bill, which we [...]

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