Whistleblower Law Blog

The Department of Justice has announced that Lorain County, Ohio EMH Regional Medical Center (EMH) and North Ohio Heart Center Inc. (NOHC) have both agreed to settle allegations of submitting false claims to Medicare and will pay the United States $3,864,857 and $541,870, respectively.

The lawsuit alleges that between 2001 and 2006, EMH, a non-profit community hospital, and NOHC, at the time an independent physician group practicing at EMH, performed unnecessary cardiac procedures on Medicare patients. According to the Justice Department, angioplasty and stent placement procedures were performed on heart disease patients who did not need either procedure.

This settlement is part of the Department of Justice (USDOJ) and the Department of Health and Human Services’ effort to reduce and prevent Medicare and Medicaid fraud. To this effect, Stuart F. Delery, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the USDOJ Civil Division, stated:

“Billing Medicare for cardiac procedures that are not necessary or appropriate contributes to the soaring costs of health care and puts patients at risk. The settlement demonstrates the Department of Justice’s efforts both to protect public funds and safeguard Medicare beneficiaries.”

The Employment Law Group® law firm’s whistleblower attorneys have helped many clients file suit against employers that fraudulently bill the U.S. government, and have established favorable precedents under the retaliation provision of the False Claims Act.

R. Scott Oswald, managing principal of The Employment Law Group, P.C., recently published an article in Law360 reviewing favorable developments in employment law for whistleblowers during 2012.

According to Oswald, these developments “further open the door to greater whistleblower revelations in the future, resulting in fewer laws being broken, savings for taxpayers, safer working conditions, increased awards to relators, other benefits and even lives being saved.”

Among the significant developments for whistleblowers in 2012 discussed were:

• The Department of Justice collecting nearly $5 billion in False Claims Act settlements and judgments
• The IRS and SEC Whistleblower Offices announced some of their first and largest awards
• The passage of the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (WPEA) strengthened legal protections for federal employees who blow the whistle by disclosing government abuse, fraud and waste
• States continued to enact local False Claim Acts to come into compliance with the federal False Claims Act
• The Administrative Review Board (ARB) at the Department of Labor continued its whistleblower-favorable trend
• Federal courts interpreted the Dodd-Frank Act’s anti-retaliation provisions to include internal complaints, with the first Dodd-Frank claims surviving a motion to dismiss in federal court.

The article, “2012 Opens The Door For More Whistleblower Participation”, was published in the January 3, 2013 edition of Law360.

The Employment Law Group® law firm has an nationwide whistleblower protection practice representing employees who have been victims of retaliation, including a $819,000 False Claims Act whistleblower retaliation verdict on behalf of a client.

The Department of Justice has announced that American Sleep Medicine LLC, headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, has agreed to pay $15,301,341 to settle allegations that the company violated the False Claims Act by improperly billing for sleep diagnostic services that were not eligible for payment under Medicare, TRICARE and the Railroad Retirement Medicare Program.

According to the lawsuit, American Sleep had technicians who did not meet federal program requirements conduct polysomnographic diagnostic sleep testing. This test is used to diagnose sleep disorders but must be conducted by technicians who are licensed or certified by a state or national credentialing body in order to be eligible for reimbursement by Medicare and TRICARE. The DOJ alleged that American Sleep knew that it was violating the law and submitted false claims between January 1, 2004 and December 31, 2011.

This lawsuit is part of the federal government’s effort to combat health care fraud under Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) initiative and to ensure that patients receive what is represented to them by healthcare professionals. It also highlights the government’s effort to stop abuse of taxpayer-funded programs like Medicare.   David J. Hale, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky, stated:

Medical providers who overbill Medicare defraud the taxpayers and drive up the cost of health care for us all. Recovering taxpayer dollars lost to fraud helps keep strong those critical public health care programs so many people depend on.

In addition to the $15.3 million settlement, American Sleep entered into a five-year Corporate Integrity Agreement with the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services to enhance accountability by the company.

The Employment Law Group® law firm’s whistleblower attorneys have helped many clients file suit against employers that fraudulently bill the U.S. government, and have established favorable precedents under the retaliation provision of the False Claims Act.

British contractor APTx Vehicle Systems Limited has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States government, the Coalition Provisional Authority that governed Iraq from April 2003 to June 2004, the government of Iraq, and JP Morgan Chase Bank. Additionally, APTx has entered into a civil settlement agreement to resolve a related False Claims Act lawsuit and will pay $1 million in criminal fines.

According to the criminal information filed in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts on December 10, 2012, APTx was charged with wire fraud conspiracy for engaging in a fraudulent scheme involving a contract from August 2004 for procuring fifty-one vehicles for the Iraqi Police Authority. The U.S. government alleges that the contract was awarded to a “prime” contractor who subcontracted the vehicle procurement to APTx for $5.7 million, paid by JP Morgan bank. In order to receive payment from JP Morgan, APTx allegedly submitted falsified shipping documents claiming that the fifty-one vehicles were completed and ready to be shipped to Iraq. However, APTx knew that none of the vehicles had been built or were legally owned by APTx. Furthermore, APTx listed a company as the freight carrier despite knowing that company was not a shipping company and named a fictitious company as the freight forwarder.

The Employment Law Group® law firm’s whistleblower attorneys have helped many clients file suit against employers that fraudulently bill the U.S. government, and have established favorable precedents under the retaliation provision of the False Claims Act.

Healthpoint Limited and DFB Pharmaceuticals have agreed to pay the federal government up to $48 million to settle allegations that they submitted false claims for an unapproved drug ineligible for reimbursement through Medicare and Medicaid. Under the settlement agreement, Healthpoint and DFB will pay $28 million, plus an additional $20 million if in the next three years there is a change in ownership of Healthpoint or DFB.

The medicaid fraud lawsuit claims that Healthpoint launched Xenaderm, a prescription drug for treating bedsores on patients in nursing homes, without ever receiving Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval. Under the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act, drug manufacturers must first receive FDA approval before they are able to introduce any new drugs to the market and before they can request Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement.

The Department of Justice alleges that Healthpoint intended to market Xenaderm as a new prescription ointment modeled after drugs that were on the market before October 1962.  In doing this, Healthpoint was attempting to avoid the time, effort, and expense associated with receiving FDA approval. Furthermore, Healthpoint allegedly misrepresented the regulatory status of Xenaderm in its quarterly reports submitted to the government.  In fact, Healthpoint failed to complete a double-blind placebo-controlled clinical study, which never established the effectiveness or safety of Xenaderm.

“This resolution is yet another example of the government’s enduring efforts to ensure that drug manufacturers comply with the critical FDA requirements for the efficacy of their drugs and the integrity of their data,” said U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz.   “This office will continue to vigorously police these key requirements that ensure that the public has access to, and the government pays only for effective medications.”

The Employment Law Group® law firm’s whistleblower attorneys have helped many clients file suit against employers that fraudulently bill the U.S. government, and have established favorable precedents under the retaliation provision of the False Claims Act.

On December 20, 2012, whistleblower lawyer and managing principal of The Employment Law Group, P.C., R. Scott Oswald, published an article on the a recent U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) settlement that may encourage more enforcement actions against dark pool trading.

According to Mr. Oswald, “dark pools facilitate large trades off the main exchanges” and “because the trades are secret, dark pools allow institutional investors to make big trades without revealing their intentions.”   The use of such alternative trading systems, led to the SEC’s enforcement action against and eventual settlement with Pipeline Trading, LLC for $1 million to resolve claims that Pipeline violated its disclosure duties and engaged in securities fraud.

Mr. Oswald also notes that this settlement sends a powerful commission that the SEC is “directly confronting the issues alternative trading systems pose” and that the “SEC’s willingness to prosecute claims with small damages gives employees and incentive to come forward” should they learn of misconduct by their employers.

The article, “Whistleblower Attorneys: Recent SEC Settlement with Pipeline Inc. may encourage Dark Pool Trading Suits” was originally published in the December 2012 edition of the Oregon Legal Journal and also appeared in Traders’ Magazine.

The Employment Law Group® law firm is a leader in the field of whistleblower protection law and has published a guide on the SEC’s new rules for the Dodd-Frank whistleblower program.

On December 4, 2012 the Justice Department announced that in fiscal year ending in September 30, 2012 the United States recovered a total of $4.9 billion in whistleblower rewards in the form of settlements and judgments in civil cases involving fraud against the federal government. The Justice Department reports that this figure is the highest recovery for a single year since the False Claims Act was amended in 1986, surpassing the previous record by over $1.7 billion. This total brings the total of recoveries under the False Claims Act since January 2009 to $13.3 billion.

Attorney General Eric Holder stated:

“Today’s announcement underscores the Obama Administration’s ongoing commitment to recover losses, to prevent fraud, to bring abuses to light, and to hold accountable those who violate the law and exploit some of the government’s most critical programs… Thanks to the dedicated work of attorneys, investigators, analysts, and support staff at every level of the Justice Department – along with our state and local partners across the country – we have secured the largest annual recovery in the Department’s history.   By aggressively investigating allegations of waste and pursuing those who would take advantage of the most vulnerable members of society, I’m confident that we will continue to build on this historic progress in the months and years ahead.”

The Employment Law Group® law firm’s whistleblower attorneys have helped many clients file suit against employers that fraudulently bill the U.S. government, and have established favorable precedents under the retaliation provision of the False Claims Act.

Public records obtained by a nonprofit website- Government Attic, reveal that the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) Whistleblower Retaliation Hearing Panel found that a former employee who blew the whistle on a troubled technology project was the victim of retaliation. This case is the first case since the panel was formed in 2010 in which the agency agrees that WMATA violated laws prohibiting whistleblower retaliation.

The panel believes that the former employee’s February 2010 termination was in part due to his cooperation with the agency’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) audit of a $6.9 million information technology project aimed at fixing problems with People Soft software, which is used by Metro.

Although the panel did not reinstate the employee, it ruled that the former employee is a “capable person” and should be given “preferred consideration” for future openings for which he qualifies.

The Employment Law Group® law firm has an extensive nationwide whistleblower practice representing employees who have been victims of retaliation.

Baylor University Medical Center, Baylor Health Care System and HealthTexas Provider Network (collectively, “Baylor”) have agreed to pay a $907,355 settlement for allegedly submitting false claims and double billing Medicare, the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services (TRICARE) and the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program (FEHBP) between 2006 to May 2010.

According to the Department of Justice, Baylor submitted false claims for several radiation treatments, and billed for high-reimbursement  oncology procedures when it could have billed cheaper services. Additionally, Baylor submitted billing for procedures lacking the required supporting documents in the patient’s medical records and improperly billed for radiation services without adequate corroboration from physician supervisors.

Stuart F. Delery, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Division, said:

“Physicians who participate in Medicare must bill for their services accurately and honestly… The Department of Justice is committed to ensuring that federal health care funds are spent appropriately.”

This lawsuit is part of an ongoing effort by the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services to combat medical billing fraud under the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) initiative.

The Employment Law Group® law firm’s whistleblower attorneys have helped many clients file suit against employers that fraudulently bill the U.S. government, and have established favorable precedents under the retaliation provision of the False Claims Act.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this month released its “Annual Report on the Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Program,” which announced that in fiscal year 2012 the agency received a total of 3,001 tips from all fifty states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and from forty-nine foreign countries. Under the new program, the first reward was issued on August 21 to a whistleblower who reported a multimillion-dollar fraud. The report also found that out of the 3,001 tips received, the SEC issued 143 enforcement judgments and orders. These enforcement judgments and orders were posted by the Office of the Whistleblower as “Notices of Covered Action” because their monetary sanctions exceeded $1 million. Under the Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Program, individuals are given 90 days from the time in which these notices are posted to apply for a whistleblower incentive award.

“In just its first year, the whistleblower program already has proven to be a valuable tool in helping us ferret out financial fraud,” said SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro. “When insiders provide us with high-quality road maps of fraudulent wrongdoing, it reduces the length of time we spend investigating and saves the agency substantial resources.”
By R. Scott Oswald
The Employment Law Group® law firm is a leader in the field of whistleblower law and has published a guide on the SEC’s new rules for the Dodd-Frank whistleblower program.

On November 20, 2012, the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Assistant Secretary Dr. David Michaels announced that Beth Slavet has been appointed as the new direct or OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Program.

Slavet has over thirty years of whistleblower enforcement experience. Prior to her appointment as director of OSHA’s whistleblower program, Slavet served as a member, vice chairman and former chairman of the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) from 1995-2003. Slavet spent the last decade working in the private sector where she focused on representing whistleblowers.

The Employment Law Group® law firm has an extensive nationwide whistleblower practice representing employees who have been victims of retaliation.

On November 13, 2012, the Senate voted in favor of the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (WPEA), S. 743/H.R. 3289, a piece of legislation that would provide federal whistleblowers with stronger protection from retaliation. Overall, this bill will close many gaps in the existing law, providing additional protection to those who expose fraud, waste, abuse, and illegal activity in the federal government.

Specifically, WPEA will close loopholes which currently allow agencies to protect only the first employee who reports government misconduct and allow agencies to retaliate against reporting employees if the misconduct falls within their job duties. This bill also modifies the standards an employee must meet in order to make a disclosure to only require “reasonable belief” of misconduct.  Additionally, government scientists and Transportation Security Administrative employees will be provided with whistleblower protection, and compensatory damages will be provided to whistleblowers that prevail after an administrative hearing.

The Office of Special Counsel (OSC), which would enforce WPEA, praised the Senate’s vote and has stated that this bill will “provide OSC with all the tools it needs to effectively fulfill its mission to protect employees from unlawful retaliation.”

After over a decade of being pushed through Congress, this bill was presented to President Obama on November 16, 2012 to be signed into law.

The Employment Law Group® law firm has an extensive nationwide whistleblower practice representing employees who have been victims of retaliation.

Related articles

• Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (WPEA) Passes House, Bill Set to Strengthen Protections for Federal Employees

Dave Sanders, former assistant maintenance manager for the Energy Northwest Columbia Generating Station, filed suit on October 25, 2012 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington under the whistleblower provision of the Energy Reorganization Act of 1978 (ERA).  Sanders alleges that Energy Northwest retaliated against him for questioning the nuclear power plant’s security clearance procedures and handling of security violations.

In early 2011, Sanders asked Security Force Supervisor Bruce Pease to increase security clearance standards for temporary employees being hired for maintenance outages. When Pease refused, Sanders worked through his own chain of command in order to obtain permission.  Pease allegedly retaliated against Sanders by accusing him of wrongfully authorizing a per diem for his daughter’s boyfriend Ricky Hayes, who Sanders had recommended for a temporary position.  Hayes received a per diem because he claimed to be a South Carolina resident, but he then moved to a local residence.   Energy Northwest revoked Sanders’s credentials and terminated his employment two weeks later.

The Employment Law Group® law firm has an extensive nationwide whistleblower practice representing employees who have been victims of retaliation.

The Department of Justice has announced that Freeman Health System, a healthcare provider and hospital system located in Joplin, Missouri, will pay $9,316,139 to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act and Stark Law for improperly compensating physicians for referrals.

The lawsuit alleged that Freeman provided seventy physicians employed at clinics operated by Freeman with incentive pay based on revenue generated by their referrals for diagnostic testing and other services provided by the hospital. Disclosures made to the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri showed that several physicians were made eligible for incentive compensation based on the value and volume of referrals they made to the hospital. The United States conducted an investigation and found that Freeman knowingly violated Stark Law by compensating these physicians. Stark Law prohibits hospitals from billing Medicare for certain services based on referrals from physicians that have a financial relationship with the hospital because this arrangement could potential create an incentive to refer patients for those procedures.

David M. Ketchmark, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, stated:

“Our priority is protecting the patients… These laws are intended to ensure that physicians make referrals for health care services based solely on the medical needs of their patients rather than any financial incentives. These laws also protect the integrity of the government-funded health care benefit programs.”

The Employment Law Group® law firm’s whistleblower attorneys have helped many clients file suit against employers that fraudulently bill the U.S. government, and have established favorable precedents under the retaliation provision of the False Claims Act.

Following an investigation conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) the Northern Illinois Flight Center has been ordered to reinstate an Illinois pilot and pay him over $500,000 in back pay, benefits and damages. OSHA found that the flight center violated the whistleblower protection provision of the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21^st Century (AIR21) when it terminated the pilot after he contacted the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regarding violations of the pilot certification process.

According to the pilot, on February 16, 2009 he was allegedly asked to falsify a pilot certification form for a training flight he had performed with another pilot. However, he maintained that he could not certify the form because all required elements had not been completed during the training flight. Then on March 23, 2009, his supervisor attempted to coerce him into signing a backdated and incorrect form. The pilot informed his supervisor that he wanted to directly contact the FAA to discuss the pilot certification process and forms, which he did between March 25 and 27. Following his contact with the FAA Flight Standards District, he was terminated on April 7 and provided with no reason for his termination.

Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels stated:

“Firing pilots for reporting inaccurate procedures to the FAA endangers other pilots, their passengers and the public at large… The Labor Department has a responsibility to protect all employees, including those in the aviation industry, from retaliation for raising safety concerns and exercising these basic worker rights.”

The Employment Law Group® law firm has an extensive nationwide whistleblower practice representing employees who have been victims of retaliation.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced that the United States has filed a False Claims Act lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia against Triple Canopy Inc., a Reston, Virginia-based government contractor. The case was initially filed in 2011 by a former employee of Triple Canopy under the qui tam provision of the False Claims Act. After being filed, the case was investigated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia; the Commercial Litigation Branch of the Justice Department’s Civil Division; and the Army Criminal Investigative Command (CID) and Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS) of the Department of Defense.

The lawsuit alleges that Triple Canopy submitted false claims to the United States as part of a $10 million contract awarded to them in 2009 in order to provide a variety of security services at the Al Asad Airbase in Iraq. According to the DOJ, Triple Canopy fraudulently billed for hundreds of foreign nationals who were hired as security guards but failed to meet Army firearms proficiency tests. Under the contract awarded to Triple Canopy, all security guards hired to protect U.S. and allied personnel were required to pass the proficiency test in order to establish they were capable of safely and accurately firing AK-47 assault rifles and other weapons. To cover up its hiring of the hundreds of unqualified guards, Triple Canopy managers in Iraq falsified test scores so they could bill the U.S. for these unqualified guards. Even after high-level officials alerted the company’s headquarters in Reston of this fraudulent activity, the misconduct continued. The lawsuit also claims that Triple Canopy used these false qualification records in order to persuade the U.S to extend their security work at the Al Asad Airbase for a second year.

Stuart F. Delery, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division of the Department of Justice, stated:

“For a government contractor to knowingly provide deficient security services, as is alleged in this case, is unthinkable, especially in war time… The department will do everything it can to ensure that contractors comply with critical contract requirements and that contractors who don’t comply aren’t permitted to profit at the expense of our men and women in uniform and the taxpayers at home who support them.”

The Employment Law Group® law firm’s whistleblower attorneys have helped many clients file suit against employers that fraudulently bill the U.S. government, and have established favorable precedents under the retaliation provision of the False Claims Act.

The Office of Special Counsel (OSC) has announced that it successfully completed its fourth mediation in the month of October. OSC mediated between Border Patrol agent Christian Sanchez and the U.S. Border Patrol’s Port Angeles Station in the state of Washington after Sanchez filed a Whistleblower Protection Act complaint.

Sanchez alleges that the U.S. Border Patrol in Port Angeles Station harassed and retaliated against him when he refused to receive overtime pay for work he never performed. According to his lawsuit, the Port Angeles Station employed over forty individuals. However, Sanchez states that there was an insufficient amount of work to perform so agents would pass time by taking daylong coastal drives and allegedly harassing local minorities. When Sanchez took a stand and refused to accept taxpayers’ money for work he did not perform, the Port Angeles Station denied him meaningful work and stripped him of his duties as an agency chaplain.

Upon filing his complaint in January 2012, Sanchez chose to seek mediation as a first option. OSC’s San Francisco office handled his case. As a result of mediation, the U.S. Board Patrol must reassign Sanchez a new post of his choosing, clear his personnel record, and restore his eligibility for chaplain duties.

Special Counsel Carolyn Lerner stated:

“Mr. Sanchez showed courage by speaking out… I commend both him and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection for resolving their differences through mediation.”

The Employment Law Group® law firm has an extensive nationwide whistleblower practice representing employees who have been victims of retaliation.

New York’s Westchester Medical Center has agreed to pay $7 million to settle a lawsuit brought by Richard Anderson, the administrative head of Westchester’s behavioral health center.  Anderson filed his qui tam suit alleging Medicaid fraud in July 2011.

From August 2001 to June 2010, the mental health center at Westchester Medical Center allegedly billed Medicaid for millions of dollars for outpatient services without the proper documentation such as the required progress reports and treatment plans. Although the hospital was aware that it did not provide the required documentation with submitted claims, it did not take action to address the problem until after an audit by the New York State Department of Health inspector general in 2010. Even after the audit uncovered fraud, the hospital did not return the funds to Medicaid.

When discussing this Medicaid lawsuit on Wednesday, Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said, “We have absolutely no tolerance for those who fail to comply with the program, particularly in these lean times when budgets are stretched thin and belts are being tightened.”

The Employment Law Group® law firm has an extensive nationwide whistleblower practice representing employees who have been victims of retaliation.

RxAmerica, a subsidiary of CVS Caremark, entered a civil settlement agreement with the federal government and agreed to pay $5.25 million to resolve allegations that the company misrepresented prescription drug costs to seniors and submitted false claims to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

According to the lawsuit filed in 2009 by Max and Jan Hauser, between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2008, RxAmerica misrepresented the cost of some generic prescription drugs on Medicare’s online “Plan Finder,” an online system used by senior citizens to compare the cost and benefits of different Medicare Part D plans. On the Plan Finder, RxAmerica listed one price for prescription medication but in some cases billed CMS a significantly higher price than the pricing data listed on Plan Finder. As a result of this billing practice, the Hausers and other senior citizens inadvertently used up their Part D benefits faster than expected and were forced into a “doughnut hole” where they had to start paying out-of-pocket for medication.

Stuart F. Delery, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Division, said:

“The Department of Justice is committed to protecting the Medicare drug prescription program against all types of misconduct… As today’s settlement demonstrates, we will ensure that Medicare Part D sponsors submit accurate drug pricing information, to ensure the integrity of the Medicare Part D program and to protect the beneficiaries who participate in the program.”

The Employment Law Group® law firm’s whistleblower attorneys have helped many clients file suit against employers that fraudulently bill the U.S. government, and have established favorable precedents under the retaliation provision of the False Claims Act.

Last month President Obama issued a landmark Presidential Policy Directive (PPD-19), which will finally provide members of the national security and intelligence community with protection against retaliation when they blow the whistle on waste, fraud and abuse.

The Directive will protect employees of the intelligence community by prohibiting retaliatory actions affecting employees’ security clearances and access to classified information. It will also require intelligence agencies to create within 270 days a review process for retaliation claims consistent with the policies and procedures in the Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA), and to establish an appealable review process for classified information conducted by Inspector General.  Additionally, this PPD establishes remedies such as reinstatement, attorney’s fees, back pay and related benefits, travel expenses, and compensatory damages.

The Employment Law Group® law firm has an extensive nationwide whistleblower practice representing employees who have been victims of retaliation.

Mark Alvis Inc., a trucking company based in Brush Creek, Tennessee, has agreed to pay $30,000 and reinstate a whistleblower who the company allegedly fired because he refused to make an illegal delivery.

On May 4, 2010, the employee injured himself while preparing a milk delivery.  When the company assigned him to make another delivery, he refused because he was tired and ill and did not have sufficient allowable service hours to make the drive the delivery required. When the employee returned to Bush Creek, the company told him to remove his belongings from the site. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) found that the company’s actions violated the Surface Transportation Assistance Act.

OSHA’s regional administer in Atlanta, Cindy A. Coe, said, “OSHA will continue to ensure that America’s truck drivers’ right to refuse to drive when they are fatigued, ill or in violation of hours-of-service requirements is not undermined.”

The Employment Law Group® law firm has an extensive nationwide whistleblower practice representing employees who have been victims of retaliation.

Last week, The Daily Cavalier, a newspaper serving the University of Virginia community in Charlottesville, Virginia, interviewed Adam August Carter, principal of The Employment Law Group® law firm, on his client, Dr. Weihua Huang’s recent $819,000 whistleblower retaliation jury verdict.

Dr. Huang was a UVA researcher working on a research project funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH) who faced retaliation and termination after reporting improper and unauthorized modifications to the terms of a National Institute of Health (NIH) research grant.

On October 12, 2012, a federal jury awarded Dr. Huang compensation for back pay which accumulated after his termination in November 2009, as well as approximately $500,000 in non-economic damages, including damage done to his academic reputation.  Additionally, Dr. Huang may receive further compensation in the form of court fees and costs and “front-pay”, or funds which would compensate him for the future earnings Huang could have receive had he continued in his position at UVA.

According to Dr. Huang’s attorney, Adam Augustine Carter, the recent ruling could have a significant impact on UVA and judicial precedent regarding the False Claim Act, a federal law that permits legal action against individuals or corporations that fraudulently obtain government funds.

Specifically, according to Mr. Carter, “it’s clear now that the University accepts federal funds in trust for the benefit of all the taxpayers and that the University is not going to be permitted to make changes at its whim without the clear authorization of the principal investigator.”

Mr. Carter further mentioned that this case may not mark the last time the issue arises either, noting that “[the defendants] said they do this all the time and that it’s routine, which tells me that this [ruling] is really going to shake up the way the accounting is going to be done on these NIH grants,” he said.

The article, entitled “Whistleblower wins unfair contract termination suit: Court ruling awards former laboratory researcher more than $800,000, finds unfair contract termination”, was published on October 17, 2012 in the online edition of The Cavalier Daily.

The Employment Law Group® law firm’s whistleblower attorneys have helped many clients file suit against employers that fraudulently bill the U.S. government, and have established favorable precedents under the retaliation provision of the False Claims Act.

Last week, The Scientist, a magazine for life science researchers and academics, featured an article highlighting a recent $819,000 whistleblower retaliation jury verdict for Dr. Weihua Huang, a former University of Virginia (UVA) researcher and client of The Employment Law Group® law firm.  Dr. Huang alleged that UVA administrators retaliated against him for reporting that his supervisor had altered and misused a National Institutes of Health (NIH) research grant budget.

The Scientist article quoted Dr. Huang’s attorney, Adam Augustine Carter, principal of The Employment Law Group® law firm, who commented that “this decision is important to the entire [research] grant community because, on these grants, levels of efforts are assigned and the principal investigator is responsible for the use of the money.”

The article, entitled “Court Awards Whistleblower $820,000: A jury finds that UVA wrongfully fired a researcher for reporting that his supervisor altered an NIH grant budget”, was originally published on October 19, 2012.

On October 17, 2012, ABC ran a feature story involving two whistleblowers represented by The Employment Law Group® law firm.  The whistleblowers are former employees of Jorge Scientific Corporation, a defense and intelligence contractor with the federal government recently filed a qui tam lawsuit against the company for misconduct they witnessed while working for the company overseas in Kabul, Afghanistan.

According to attorney David Scher, who represents the whistleblowers, “the case represents one of the most egregious violations of the trust the U.S. government has placed in a defense contractor to look out for and protect American interests in a war zone such as Afghanistan.”

The former employees – Kenneth Smith (a decorated former police officer) and John Melson (a former U.S. Marine who currently serves in the U.S. Army National Guard) –brought their suit under the False Claims Act, a law that allows relators such as themselves, to bring qui tam actions against wrongdoers on behalf of the federal government on account of fraudulent activity involving government contracts.

In their suit, Smith and Melson assert that Jorge Scientific failed to meet is responsibilities as a government contractor and engaged in irresponsible conduct involving taxpayer money.  Specifically, the whistleblowers claim that Jorge Scientific’s vice president, Chris Sullivan, encouraged gross misconduct in at the company’s Kabul location that cause the former employees to resign from their positions as security and protection professionals.  Smith and Melson further charge that Jorge Scientific’s executives’ actions compromised the U.S. mission in Afghanistan and imperiled the lives of other company employees, in addition to U.S. and coalition military and government personnel.

The lawsuit claims that Jorge executives repeatedly violated the company’s rules of conduct including: indiscriminately firing weapons and possessing prohibited grenades, and tossing live ammunition into bonfires while intoxicated during parties, thereby causing the bullets to explode and, in one instance, a bullet struck a company employee near his eye.  Furthermore, the suit alleges that Jorge Scientific ignored complaints by U.S. military personnel after servicemembers discovered errant bullets in the nearby community.  Many of these “parties” took place during work hours and were paid for with taxpayer funds, the lawsuit alleges.

The relators – Smith and Melson – claim that for their refusal to participate in this misconduct, Jorge Scientific retaliated against them by isolating them, using racist and homophobic epithets toward them, and remanding that they consume alcohol and illegal drugs, an even physically threatening them during drunken brawls which the plaintiffs avoided.  After this behavior persisted and fed up with the gross misconduct by their employers, Jorge Scientific forced the relators’ constructive discharge from their positions.

“The recorded video shows, without a doubt, the irresponsible and dangerous actions on the part of the Jorge corporation and supports the relator’s charges. We hope this legal action results in changed behavior by Jorge, the US military and other contractors representing American interests,” Scher added.

Part of the conduct described by the whistleblowers can be viewed here.

The Employment Law Group® law firm’s whistleblower attorneys have helped many clients file suit against employers that fraudulently bill the U.S. government, and have established favorable precedents under the retaliation provision of the False Claims Act.

Last week a federal jury in Virginia awarded an $819,000 verdict to Dr. Weihua Huang in his False Claims Act suit alleging that two University of Virginia administrators retaliated against him for reporting what he believed was misuse of a National Institutes of Health (NIH) research grant.

According to Dr. Huang’s lawsuit, two University of Virginia administrators declined to review Huang’s contract after he raised questions about the alleged misuse of NIH research funds.  The jury awarded Dr. Huang, a former genetics and addiction researcher in UVA’s Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Science, $500,000 in compensatory damages and approximately $320,000 in wages he lost after he was retaliated against for blowing the whistle.

Dr. Huang’s attorney, Adam Augustine Carter of The Employment Law Group® law firm, told Law360 that the case represented a significant victory for False Claims Act whistleblowers at research institutions who receive federal grant funding.

Mr. Carter told Law360 that “this case should encourage other whistleblowers that are seeing abuse in federal grants to come forward” and that while “it is tough for people to come forward in such situations, Dr. Huang’s courage has set an example for whistleblowers.”

Additionally, according to Mr. Carter, the case “should act as a reminder to institutions that they may not retaliate against whistleblowers who question the alleged misuse of federal grant money.”

Such whistleblowers, he noted, hold federal funds in trust and “employees who engage in protected activity or who question the way the funds are distributed or used cannot be retaliated against.”

The article, entitled “UVA Whistleblower Nets Award In FCA Suit Over Health Grant”, originally appeared in the October 16, 2012 edition of Law360.

The Employment Law Group® law firm’s whistleblower attorneys have helped many clients file suit against employers that fraudulently bill the U.S. government, and have established favorable precedents under the retaliation provision of the False Claims Act.