OSHA has ordered Utah Transit Authority (UTA) to reinstate a whistleblower and pay more than $130,000 in back wages with interest and attorney’s fees. According to the complaint, the UTA fired the whistleblower in retaliation for raising security concerns, which violates the Federal Railroad Safety Act. For more information about the firm’s Whistleblower Law Practice, [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Retaliation'
OSHA Orders Utah Transit Authority to Reinstate Whistleblower
September 2nd, 2010 · No Comments
Tags: Federal Rail Safety Act · Retaliation
DC Jury Finds Police Chief Retaliated Against Whistleblower
September 2nd, 2010 · No Comments
According to the Washington Examiner, a D.C. jury awarded Sean McLaughlin damages for retaliation in violation of the DC Whistleblower Protection Act. McLaughlin alleged D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier, a district commander at the time, threatened police officers with “consequences” if they pursued their claims that the police department’s off-duty reimbursable overtime security detail at [...]
Tags: D.C. Whistleblower Protection Act · Retaliation
Virginia Court Holds Fraud Investigator Can Sue for Wrongful Discharge
September 1st, 2010 · No Comments
A Warren County Circuit held that a fraud investigator can sue her employer for wrongful discharge under Bowman when the employer interferes with her fraud investigations and subsequently fires her for appearing before a grand jury. Click here for the full opinion. The employment lawyers at The Employment Law Firm® have extensive experience representing those [...]
Tags: Retaliation
Whistleblower Retaliation Protection for Congressional Staff Languishes in Senate Committee
August 19th, 2010 · No Comments
According to an article in Politico, the Congressional Whistleblower Protection Act introduced by Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri) has yet to be reported to the full Senate and continues to languish in the Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs. Similar to the Whistleblower Protection Act which protects most federal employees who [...]
Tags: Federal Whistleblower Legislation · Retaliation
DOJ ARB Rejects “Duty Speech” Defense to ERA Nuclear Whistleblower Retaliation Claims
August 11th, 2010 · No Comments
In Vinnett v. Mitsubishi Power Systems, the Department of Labor Administrate Review Board held that employees who report nuclear safety concerns engage in protected conduct under Section 211 of the Energy Reorganization Act (ERA) regardless of whether they are blowing the whistle in the course of performing their job duties. The ARB states: [T]here is [...]
Tags: Nuclear Regulatory Commission · Retaliation
New Study Indicates Strong Anti-retaliation Policy Benefits Employers
August 5th, 2010 · No Comments
The Ethics Resource Center conducted a study titled Retaliation: The Cost to Your Company and Its Employees showing that employers’ efforts to reduce employee misconduct are insufficient absent the adoption of a strong anti-retaliation policy. The study concludes that employers should promote ethical behavior and adopt a strong anti-retaliation policy in order to improve the [...]
Tags: Retaliation
Kent County Superior Court Associate Justice Daniel Procaccini Commends Both Sides for their Trial Work in O’Neill v. Warwick
August 4th, 2010 · No Comments
Justice Procaccini commended the defendant’s counsel and The Employment Law Group® law firm’s attorneys R. Scott Oswald and David Scher for their excellent trial work. With the completion of the O’Neill v. Warwick trial marking Procaccini’s ninth anniversary on the bench, the Warwick Beacon reported that: Procaccini told the court that he loves his work [...]
Tags: Retaliation · The Employment Law Group, P.C.
Kent County Jury Finds for School District in O’Neill v. Warwick
August 4th, 2010 · No Comments
A jury for the Superior Court of Kent County in Rhode Island found Warwick Public School District not liable under the Rhode Island Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA) for the wrongful termination of Mary Katherine O’Neill, a client of The Employment Law Group®. School administrators fired Ms. O’Neill following an interview she gave to a local [...]
Tags: Retaliation · The Employment Law Group, P.C.
Protected Conduct Under the False Claims Act Does Not Require a Showing that Plaintiff Knew About the Act
August 3rd, 2010 · No Comments
The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts held that an employee is protected from retaliation under the retaliation provision of the False Claims Act when reporting any activity that reasonably could lead to a False Claims Act (FCA) suit even when the employee is completely unaware of the FCA. Plaintiff Christopher Gobble was [...]
Tags: False Claims Act · Retaliation
House Passes Whistleblower Legislation to Protect Oil Rig Employees Who Report Unsafe Conditions
August 3rd, 2010 · No Comments
The House of Representatives passed the Offshore Oil and Gas Worker Whistleblower Protection Act, which prohibits oil and gas companies from terminating or discriminating against offshore employees who report unsafe conditions or refuse to work in unsafe conditions. Closing a significant loophole, the legislation extends whistleblower protections currently in place for onshore oil and gas [...]
Tags: Federal Whistleblower Legislation · Retaliation
U.S. Court Denies Caterpillar Summary Judgment in SOX Whistleblower Case
July 30th, 2010 · No Comments
On July 13, 2010, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois denied a motion for summary judgment in Schlicksup v. Caterpillar, Inc., allowing a Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) whistleblower, Daniel Schlicksup, to proceed to trial. Schlicksup, a tax manager with twenty years of experience, alleges that he was involuntarily reassigned by his employer Caterpillar [...]
Tags: Retaliation · Sarbanes-Oxley
The Employment Law Group® Law Firm is Quoted in BNA Article on New Dodd-Frank Act
July 23rd, 2010 · No Comments
Principal Jason Zuckerman of The Employment Law Group® law firm is quoted in an article in BNA’s Daily Labor Report titled “Attorneys Agree Financial Overhaul Bill Has Vigorous Whistleblower Protections” about the whistleblower provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010. The Dodd-Frank Act which we blogged about here, contains [...]
Tags: False Claims Act · Retaliation · Sarbanes-Oxley · The Employment Law Group, P.C.
National Law Journal Quotes The Employment Law Group® Law Firm About Whistleblower Provisions in Financial Services Reform Legislation
July 20th, 2010 · No Comments
The Employment Law Group® law firm is quoted in the lead story in The National Law Journal titled “Financial Reform Includes New Whistleblower Program.” The article reports on the whistleblower protection provisions in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, which we blogged about here. The article states in part: However, employment and whistleblower [...]
Tags: False Claims Act · Retaliation · Sarbanes-Oxley · The Employment Law Group, P.C.
Dodd-Frank Bill Provides Robust Whistleblower Protections
July 15th, 2010 · No Comments
Recognizing that robust whistleblower protection is critical to preventing another financial crisis, Congress included in the Dodd-Frank financial services reform bill (H.R. 4173) numerous provisions designed to encourage whistleblowing and to provide robust protection from retaliation. These provisions create monetary awards for whistleblowers who provide original information to the SEC or CFTC, strengthen the whistleblower [...]
Tags: False Claims Act · Federal Whistleblower Legislation · OSHA Whistleblower Protection Program · Retaliation · Sarbanes-Oxley
OSHA Orders New Jersey Transit to Reinstate Rail Worker, Pay Punitive Damages
April 7th, 2010 · No Comments
On April 6, 2010, OSHA ordered the New Jersey Transit Corporation (NJT) to reinstate a rail worker and pay him over $500,000 for retaliation he suffered as a result of missing work due to a job related illness. In February 2008, the Complainant witnessed a contractor being electrocuted and burned to death after coming into [...]
Tags: Federal Rail Safety Act · Retaliation
ALJ Orders BB&T Bank to Reinstate SOX Whistleblower Who Disclosed Ponzi Scheme
April 7th, 2010 · No Comments
On April 1, 2010, Administrative Law Judge Jeffrey Tureck found that BB&T violated the whistleblower provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and ordered the bank to reinstate Amy Stroupe, awarding her approximately three years of back pay. Stroupe, a corporate fraud investigator, uncovered a $100 million Ponzi scheme funded in part with $20 million of fraudulent [...]
Tags: Retaliation · Sarbanes-Oxley
Health Care Reform Bill Creates New Whistleblower Protections
March 23rd, 2010 · No Comments
The 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 [...]
Tags: Federal Whistleblower Legislation · OSHA Whistleblower Protection Program · Retaliation
ALJ Awards Trucker Punitive Damages After Being Fired for Refusing to Drive in Dangerous Conditions
March 23rd, 2010 · No Comments
On March 15, 2010, Administrative Law Judge Daniel Leland awarded Cynthia Ferguson over $151,000 including $75,000 in punitive damages, holding that she was terminated in retaliation for refusing to drive in hazardous conditions. On a cross country trip, Ferguson encountered extremely inclement weather approaching Donner Pass in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Ferguson observed a truck [...]
Tags: OSHA Whistleblower Protection Program · Retaliation · Surface Transportation Assistance Act
OSHA Orders Tennessee Commerce Bank to Pay Over $1 million for SOX Violations
March 23rd, 2010 · No Comments
On March 17, 2010, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration ordered Tennessee Commerce Bank to reinstate a former chief financial officer and pay more than $1 million for violations of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Former CFO George Fort filed a complaint with OSHA on April 4, 2008 alleging that the bank terminated him in retaliation for [...]
Tags: Retaliation · Sarbanes-Oxley
Illinois Whistleblower Beats Summary Judgment, Heads to Trial in FCA Retaliation Case
March 17th, 2010 · No Comments
On March 8, 2010, Judge Anderson issued an opinion broadly construing the scope of actionable retaliation under the False Claims Act (FCA), allowing whistleblower Ann Howard to proceed with her FCA retaliation claim in U.S. ex rel. Howard v. Urban Inv. Trust, Inc.. Howard was employed as an accountant for Urban, a property management company [...]
Tags: Contractor Fraud · False Claims Act · Retaliation · The Employment Law Group, P.C.
Eleventh Circuit Partially Reverses Dismissal of FCA Case
February 25th, 2010 · No Comments
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 [...]
Tags: False Claims Act · Retaliation
Fourth Circuit Holds SOX Whistleblowers Entitled to De Novo Review in Federal Court
December 31st, 2009 · No Comments
On December 31, 2009, in a case of first impression, the Fourth Circuit held in Stone v. Instrumentation Laboratory Company that a Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) complainant may seek de novo review in federal court after the complaint has been pending before DOL for over 180 days without a final decision by the Secretary of Labor. In [...]
Tags: Retaliation · Sarbanes-Oxley · The Employment Law Group, P.C. · The Employment Law Group, PC
DC City Council Unanimously Approves the DC Whistleblower Protection Amendment Act of 2009
December 17th, 2009 · No Comments
Monday, the DC Council approved the Whistleblower Protection Amendment Act of 2009, which strengthens the DC Whistleblower Protection Act (DC Code § 1-615.51 et seq.) and The Employees of District Contractors and Instrumentality Whistleblower Protection Act of 1998 (DC Code § 2-223.01 et seq.). The Whistleblower Protection Amendment Act of 2009 eliminates loopholes in the [...]
Tags: D.C. Whistleblower Protection Act · Public Employee Whistleblower Protection · Retaliation · State Whistleblower Legislation · Whistleblower Protection Act
Voices for Corporate Responsibility Kicks Off
December 16th, 2009 · No Comments
On 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 [...]
Tags: Federal Whistleblower Legislation · Retaliation · State Whistleblower Legislation · The Employment Law Group, P.C. · The Employment Law Group, PC
TELG Associate Quoted by The Raleigh News & Observer
December 10th, 2009 · No Comments
Tom Harrington, an associate at The Employment Law Group® law firm, was quoted in a December 3, 2009 article published by The Raleigh News & Observer. The article, “Tony Rand accused of insider trading,” discusses accusations of insider trading by Paul Feldman, the former President of Law Enforcement Associates. Mr. Feldman claims he was unlawfully [...]
Tags: Retaliation · Sarbanes-Oxley · The Employment Law Group, P.C. · The Employment Law Group, PC · Whistleblower Protection Act