Whistleblower Law Blog

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 […]

[Read more →]

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 […]

[Read more →]

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 […]

[Read more →]

On November 30, 2009, Judge Jeffrey S. White of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California partially denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss in Galli v. Pittsburg Unified School District.  The Court held that an employee’s wrongful termination constitutes an ongoing violation and that reinstatement is prospective injunctive relief from unconstitutional state […]

[Read more →]

The December 2009 Washingtonian magazine’s list of top lawyers in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area lists Jason Zuckerman, a Principal at The Employment Law Group® law firm, as a top whistleblower lawyer.  To learn more about The Employment Law Group® law firm’s whistleblower practice, click here. 

[Read more →]

In an article titled, “Congress May Affect Arbitration More Than High Court,” Law360 reports on the Arbitration Fairness Act of 2009 (S. 931, H.R. 1020).  The article discusses the potential broad impact of the legislation and compares it to the possible impact of three Supreme Court cases on the docket for this term.  The Arbitration […]

[Read more →]

On October 22, 2009, a D.C. Superior Court awarded Colin Browne over $282,000 for his former employer’s violations of the D.C. Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA).  This is one of the highest awards under the D.C. WPA to date.  The award comes after a 5 day jury trial.  We first blogged about the verdict in Mr. Browne’s […]

[Read more →]

In an interview with ABC2 News, whistleblower Pete Peterson speaks about the crash of Trooper 2 that led to four deaths last year.  Peterson was the Maryland State Police (”MSP”) Pilot who wrote the whistleblower letter to the Department of Transportation’s (”DOT”) Inspector General last September before the crash of Trooper 2.  In his letter, […]

[Read more →]

On October 6, 2009, a jury in the District of Columbia decided in favor of D.C. Whistleblower Colin Browne in the case of Browne v. University of District of Columbia.  In the suit, Colin Browne alleged that his former employer, the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) violated the D.C. Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA) […]

[Read more →]

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 […]

[Read more →]

Today, Law360 published a column by principals R. Scott Oswald and Jason Zuckerman of The Employment Law Group® law firm on the Ninth Circuit’s recent decision in Van Asdale v. International Game Technology.  The column discusses how the Van Asdale decision is a substantial victory for SOX whistleblowers in that it resolves ambiguities in favor […]

[Read more →]

In an article titled, “Recent Court Decision Clarifies Whistleblower Law,” Compliance Week reports about the Ninth Circuit’s recent decision in Van Asdale v. International Game Technology about the scope of the whistleblower retaliation provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (“SOX”).  According to Scott Oswald, a principal with The Employment Law Group® law firm, the Ninth Circuit’s […]

[Read more →]

In an article titled, “Whistle-blower suit filed against Pittsburg school district,” Contra Costa Times reports about Tim Galli’s whistleblower retaliation lawsuit against the Pittsburg school district.  Tim Galli, a 35-year educator and former Pittsburg High principal, suffered retaliation when he raised concerns about the school district’s questionable budgetary practices, and undisclosed financial conflict of interest […]

[Read more →]

The Maryland Bar Journal has published an article by Scott Oswald and Jason Zuckerman of The Employment Law Group® law firm on Adler wrongful discharge actions.  The article provides an overview of the Adler common law wrongful discharge tort and provides practical tips for representing whistleblowers under Adler, including maximizing damages; selecting the appropriate theme; […]

[Read more →]

Jason Zuckerman, a Principal of The Employment Law Group® law firm spoke at a D.C. Bar CLE event titled, “Changing Currents in Employment Law:  Recent Developments Update.”  Mr. Zuckerman provided an update on whistleblower protections, including the recently enacted whistleblower provision in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the recent amendment to the False […]

[Read more →]

The Merit Systems Protection Board (“MSPB”) has ordered the U.S. Agency for International Development (“Agency”) to pay backpay, including interest, and other benefits to a former investigator who alleged that he was retaliated against for blowing the whistle about agency personnel consuming alcohol while on duty.  The MSPB also ordered the Agency to cancel the […]

[Read more →]

In an article titled, “ARB Upholds Bankrupt Firm’s SOX Liability But Recalculates Retaliatory Discharge Award,” BNA reports on the Labor Department’s holding in Kalkunte v. DVI Financial Services, Inc., ARB NO. 05-139 (February 27, 2009), where the Administrative Review Board (“ARB”) in a 2-1 decision, found substantial evidence to support a finding that Ms. Kalkunte’s […]

[Read more →]

On February 27, 2009, the United States Department of Labor’s Administrative Review Board (“ARB”) affirmed the Administrative Law Judge’s (“ALJ”) opinion in Kalkunte v. DVI Financial Services, Inc., where the ALJ held that a privately-held company acting as a contractor, subcontractor, or agent of a publicly traded company can be held liable for violation of […]

[Read more →]

In Drake v. Agency for International Development, the Federal Circuit held that the Merit Systems Protection Board (“MSPB”) erred in concluding that Drake’s disclosures were not protected under the Whistleblower Protection Act (“WPA”).  Drake, a Foreign Service Investigator with the U.S. Agency for International Development (“Agency”), alleged that he was retaliated against for blowing the […]

[Read more →]

A survey conducted by the University of Nebraska College of Law revealed that in 2007, only four percent of Sarbanes-Oxley (“SOX”) whistleblower cases heard by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration were resolved in favor of the employee seeking whistleblower protection.   Despite the discouraging statistics, the attorneys at The Employment Law Group® law firm continue […]

[Read more →]