Whistleblower Law Blog

On February 18, 2010, the Eleventh Circuit partially overruled a district court’s dismissal of a False Claims Act case.  In US ex rel. Sanchez v. Lymphatx, Inc., an employee brought a False Claims Act action against her former employer for fraudulent Medicare billing practices and retaliation.  She also alleges that she was fired after complaining […]

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On October 28, 2009 the Health Care Fraud Enforcement Act of 2009 (S. 1959) was introduced to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary.  If passed, the bill would aid the government in prosecuting health care fraud and provide stiffer penalties for cases that involve a loss of over $1 million. 
In addition to increasing the criminal […]

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On October 19, 2009, the Department of Justice announced that four pharmaceutical manufacturers, Mylan Pharmaceuticals, UDL Laboratories, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, and Ortho McNeil Pharmaceutical settled claims brought against them under the False Claims Act for $124 million.  The case alleged that the companies misclassified “innovator” drugs as “non-innovator” drugs and underpaid quarterly rebates owed to state […]

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Affirming a jury’s finding that Mohammed Kakeh, a Controller for the United Planning Organization (“UPO”) was terminated for his refusal to engage in fraudulent billing and for providing information to the Office of Inspector General, Judge Kessler rejected several arguments by UPO that would undermine the statutory whistleblower protections under which Kakeh brought his claim, […]

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The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia today unsealed a lawsuit against a number of student loan companies, including Nelnet, Inc and Sallie Mae, filed on behalf of the United States by Dr. Jon H. Oberg. The action seeks the return of approximately $1 billion in “special allowance” payments wrongfully extracted […]

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The Boeing Company has agreed to pay $2 million to resolve claims that the company overbilled the government from 2002 to 2005 for work done at a San Antonio Plant.  According to the suit, brought under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act, Boeing inflated its estimates for the number of hours required […]

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The state and city of New York have agreed to pay a total of $540 million to resolve allegations of Medicaid fraud.  The suit, originally brought under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act, alleged that between 1990 and 2001 the state of New York knowingly submitted claims for reimbursement to the federal […]

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The Seventh Circuit has held that the outcome of a False Claims Act retaliation claim does not preclude a plaintiff from filing a subsequent qui tam action.  In Lusby v. Rolls-Royce Corporation, Curtis Lusby filed a complaint against his former employer Rolls-Royce alleging that Rolls-Royce terminated him for raising concerns about the company’s misrepresentation of […]

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In an article titled, “Financial Anti-Fraud Act Advances For Final Approval,” Law 360 reports about the recently enacted Fraud Enforcement Recovery Act (FERA).The article discusses the ways in which FERA will assist the government in combating fraud.  The article quotes The Employment Group® law firm, which observed that “strengthening the whistleblower statutes will give the […]

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Yesterday Congress enacted the Fraud Enforcement Recovery Act of 2009 (S.386) to curb fraud in the financial services industry and strengthen the False Claims Act (FCA), a statute that was originally enacted in 1863 to deter fraud against the government.  Under the qui tam provision of the FCA, a whistleblower can bring a lawsuit on […]

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Last week, the House passed S.386 (“Fraud Enforcement Recovery Act”) to curb fraud in the financial services industry and to protect taxpayers’ dollars.  While the bill focuses primarily on potential fraud and misuse of economic stimulus funds, it also includes significant changes to the provisions of the federal False Claims Act (“FCA”).  In particular, the […]

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On December 29, 2008, the Justice Department announced that Spartan Motors and its subsidiary, Spartan Chassis have agreed to pay the United States $1.7 Million to resolve allegations that it paid kickbacks to an employee of Force Protection Inc.  In the complaint, the United States alleged that Spartan paid the Force Protection employee approximately $100,000 […]

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DOJ announced on December 8, 2008, that an employee of a contractor providing U.S. maintenance services in Iraq received $720,000 in a settlement of a qui tam suit he filed on behalf of the U.S. government.  The suit alleged that the company submitted false and inflated claims of hours worked to the Army.  The employee […]

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At a time when the government needs to close an unprecedented deficit, the Congressional Budget Office has concluded in a report released on November 21, 2008 that an increase in enforcement of the False Claims Act will result in a substantial increase in revenue for the government.  For more information about the ability of private […]

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Today The Employment Law Group® law firm prevailed on a motion to dismiss a claim of retaliation under the False Claims Act (”FCA”) and a defamation action.  Jason Mann alleged that his former employer Heckler & Koch Defense, Inc. (“HKD”) retaliated against him because he investigated and raised concerns about HKD’s submission of a potentially […]

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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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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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On July 30, 2008, Judge J. Frederick Motz denied a motion for preliminary injunction brought against Dennis Glynn, a client of The Employment Law Group® law firm, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.  Glynn prevailed at a three-day hearing concerning alleged violation of a non-compete agreement, alleged violation of a non-solicitation […]

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Today the Supreme Court issued a ruling on a key issue under the False Claims Act, i.e. whether the False Claims Act includes fraudulent claims made by subcontractors on a federal project or whether it only includes claims submitted directly to the federal government.  In Allison Engine v. Thacker , the Court held that a […]

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Last week, Medtronic agreed to pay $75 million to resolve allegations of Medicare fraud.  The suit, originally brought under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act, alleged that Kyphon, a Medtronic subsidiary, defrauded Medicare by improperly persuading hospitals to keep patients overnight for simple outpatient procedures to repair small fissures of the spine.   […]

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On May 13, 2008, the Sixth Circuit reversed a lower court’s dismissal of a False Claims Act (“FCA”) retaliation claim.  In the U.S. ex rel. Marlar v. BWXT Y-12, LLC, No. 07-6051 (6th Cir. May 13, 2008) opinion, the Sixth Circuit rejected the district court’s narrow interpretation of the scope of protected conduct under the […]

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On February 27, 2008, The Employment Law Group® law firm achieved a victory for a whistleblower who suffered retaliation because he opposed fraud on the government that he believed would endanger the lives of U.S. troops in Iraq. In a memorandum opinion, in Glynn v. EDO et al., No. JFM 07-1660 (D.Md. Feb. 27, 2008), […]

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Today New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine signed into law the New Jersey False Claims Act, which is similar to the federal False Claims Act. New Jersey is the 17th state to adopt a False Claims Act. The New Jersey False Claims Act closes a loophole that the D.C. Circuit read into the federal False Claims […]

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According to data released by the Department of Justice this week, disclosures by qui tam relators have led to recoveries of $1.45 billion in fiscal year 2007. Approximately 75% of all recoveries in False Claims Act suits resulted from disclosures by qui tam relators. This highlights the importance of the qui tam provision of the […]

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