Whistleblower Law Blog
Whistleblowers Receive Millions for Reporting Major Pharmaceutical Kickback Scheme
January 4, 2017
Earlier this fall, the U.S. Department of Justice announced a $28 million settlement with Omnicare Inc., the largest nursing home pharmacy company in the United States (now owned by CVS Health Corporation). The settlement resolved multi-year litigation originally brought by private whistleblowers as a qui tam lawsuit under the...
Seventh Circuit Reconsiders Case in Light of Supreme Court’s 'Implied False Certification' Holding
December 20, 2016
Although the Supreme Court in Universal Health Services, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Escobar, 136 S. Ct. 1989 (2016) widened the scope of potential claims that qui tam relators may bring under the False Claims Act (FCA), 31 U.S.C. § 3729 et seq., this expansion did not revive the relator’s claim in United States ex rel....
SCOTUS Rules Breach of Seal Requirement Doesn't Sink FCA Whistleblower Case
December 13, 2016
On Dec. 6, the Supreme Court of the United States decided State Farm Fire and Casualty Company v. U.S. ex rel. Rigsby, an important False Claims Act (FCA) case that could have a major impact on whistleblowers and their lawyers. The Court ruled 8-0 in favor of the whistleblowers, with Justice Kennedy writing the Court’s opinion...
Whistleblowers Awarded $29M for Reporting Massive Healthcare Fraud
December 8, 2016
The Justice Department announced in late October that it had entered into an agreement with Life Care Centers of America Inc. (Life Care) and its owner, Forrest L. Preston, under which Life Care will pay the DOJ $145 million to resolve allegations that the skilled nursing facility (SNF) chain violated the False Claims Act (FCA...
Seventh Circuit Interprets "Reasonable Belief" in FCA Retaliation Claim
November 17, 2016
Although the amendments to the 2009 Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act (FERA) expanded the scope of the False Claims Act’s (FCA) retaliation protections, this expanded scope was of no help to Eric Uhlig in his recent suit against his employer. See United States ex rel. Eric Uhlig v. Fluor Corp, 2016 WL 5905714 (7th Cir. Oct. 11...
FRSA Case Could Have Big Impact on Future Whistleblower Claims
November 15, 2016
The Administrative Review Board (ARB) of the Department of Labor (DOL) issued a remarkable decision for whistleblowers in late September, clarifying the evidence on which whistleblowers may rely in proving their cases and the causation standard by which whistleblower retaliation claims should be evaluated.
The decision came in...
Truck Driver Receives Win from ARB in STAA Whistleblower Case
November 9, 2016
On August 30, the Administrative Review Board (ARB) decided Dick v. Tango Transport, ruling in favor of the whistleblower – a truck driver for Tango Transport named Curtis Dick – and reinforcing the strength of whistleblower protections critical to the safety of the commercial trucking industry.
Case Background
Curtis Dick...
D.C. Circuit Case Could Redefine Employment Relationship Among Joint Employers
November 3, 2016
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia will soon decide whether the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has adopted the correct standard for determining that two business entities are joint employers for purposes of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The Board has clarified that the correct test is...
SOX Whistleblower Case Reflects Trend Toward Increased Protections
October 25, 2016
Employees who believe they’ve spotted fraud or other violations of the law at their workplaces are often afraid to report these violations to their supervisors or to government agencies. While they may know about legal protections for whistleblowing, it is often more challenging for employees to determine if they are observing...
Jury Awards $250,000 in Punitive Damages in Railroad Whistleblower Case
October 18, 2016
On Sept. 15, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a $250,000 punitive damages award against Amtrak in a whistleblower retaliation case brought by two Amtrak employees under the Federal Railroad Safety Act (FRSA). The punitive damages award of $125,000 each for two plaintiffs far...
