Whistleblower Law Blog

TweetOn March 30, 2010, the Supreme Court issued an opinion widening the public disclosure bar to qui tam actions brought under the False Claims Act (FCA), holding that “the reference to ‘administrative’ reports, audits, and investigations” contained in the public disclosure bar of the FCA “encompasses disclosures made in state and local sources as well [...]

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TweetThe Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2009 (H.R. 3590) that the House approved on March 21, 2010, creates new whistleblower protections for health care workers and strengthens the coverage of the False Claims Act.  The following is a summary of these provisions and the text of the relevant sections is available here. Section [...]

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TweetOn December 15, 2009, The Employment Law Group® law firm participated in the launch of Voices for Corporate Responsibility (Voices).  Voices is a project sponsored by Grant & Eisenhofer P.A., Mehri & Skalet, PLLC, and The Employment Law Group® law firm.  Its mission is to help and encourage corporate employees to take a stand against [...]

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TweetYesterday 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(S.386) to curb fraud in the financial services industry and strengthen the False Claims Act (FCA), a statute that was originally enacted in 1863 to deter fraud against the government.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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TweetLast 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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TweetSenator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) introduced S.458, the False Claims Act Clarification Act of 2009, which would extend whistleblower protections to employees in the legislative branch who disclose information about reasonably perceived violations of any law, rule, or regulation.  The bill also amends the False Claims Act (“FCA”) by: clarifying the definition of “claim” to include any [...]

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TweetIntroduction The economic stimulus bill passed by Congress on February 12, 2009 includes robust whistleblower protections to ensure that employees of private contractors and state and local governments can disclose waste, fraud, gross mismanagement or a violation of law related to stimulus funds.  This article summarizes the key provisions of Senator McCaskill’s (D-Mo.) whistleblower protection [...]

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TweetAn editorial in today’s Harrisburg Patriot-News commends the Platts-Van Hollen amendment to the stimulus bill which strengthens federal whistleblower protections for employees who report government fraud, waste and abuse.  The editorial states: One provision that should stay in stimulus bill is that protecting those who report waste, fraud Monday, February 2, 2009  There is much [...]

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TweetOn January 28, 2009, the House passed the Platts-Van Hollen amendment to its economic stimulus bill, which will enhance whistleblower protections for federal employees who report on waste, fraud and abuse of federal funds.  The Platts-Van Hollen amendment which is substantially similar to H.R. 985, grants federal employees the right to a jury trial in [...]

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TweetIn a recent report titled, “Breaking the Sound Barrier:  Experiences of Air Marshals Confirm Need for Reform at the OSC,” the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) documents the need for a major overhaul of the Office of Special Counsel (OSC).  In addition, the report provides very insightful recommendations for reforming the OSC, including:  Increasing the budget [...]

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TweetIn 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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TweetOn 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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TweetYesterday Congress enacted a new whistleblower law to protect public and private sector employees in the manufacturing and retail industries who disclose information to an employer, a regulatory agency, or a State Attorney General about a reasonably perceived violation of the Consumer Product Safety Commission Act (“CPSCA”) or any act enforced by the Consumer Product [...]

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TweetOn January 28, 2008, President Bush signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (H.R. 4986), which includes a provision protecting employees of defense contractors who blow the whistle on contracting fraud. Section 846 amends 10 U.S.C. § 2409 to protect employees who disclose to Congress, an Inspector General, the Government [...]

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TweetToday Rep. Wynn introduced the Congressional Disclosures Act (HR 4650), which would protect federal employees and employees of government contractors who disclose information to a Member of Congress or a Congressional Committee concerning a violation of any law, gross mismanagement, a gross waste of funds, an abuse of authority, or a substantial and specific danger [...]

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TweetRep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Education and Labor Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, has introduced robust and comprehensive whistleblower protection legislation for private sector employees. H.R. 4047 would close loopholes in existing federal whistleblower protection statutes and protect employees who disclose threats to public health and safety, financial fraud, insurance fraud, or violations [...]

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TweetOn October 30, 2007, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation unanimously approved the CPSC Reform Act S. 2045 which includes protection for employees who disclose to the Federal government or a state Attorney General information relating to any violation of a consumer product safety standard, regulation, or order of the Consumer Product Safety [...]

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TweetCongress recently enacted robust whistleblower protections for employees in the transportation industry. These new statutes protect workers who (1) refuse to violate or assist in the violation of Federal law, rule or regulation relating to public transportation safety or security; (2) file an employee protection complaint under the National Transit Systems Security Act of 2007; [...]

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