Monthly Archives: April 2014
The U.S. Whistleblower Laws You’ve Never Heard About
By now, you have probably heard about the False Claims Act, the Dodd-Frank Act and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Depending on your field, you may be aware of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Whistleblower Law, which gives rewards of 15 to 30 percent of the amount collected by the government to tipsters who give […]
Time to Hand-Out Whistles in America’s Schools
It takes two to speak the truth: one to speak, and another to hear. Henry David Thoreau The New York Times recently published a story detailing 14 cases of New York City high school teachers and principals who aided students cheating on tests. The City’s special commissioner investigating the schools substantiated the story. Unfortunately, this […]
Another Texas Whistleblower is Dismissed
The Supreme Court of Texas recently dismissed another whistleblower case with a narrow reading of Texas Whistleblower Act (TWA) requirements. Although the TWA offers significant protections to a tipster reporting malfeasance, a Dallas whistleblower attorney can offer counsel on how to meet the law’s specific requirements. The Facts Yusuf Farran was the Executive Director of […]
Church Whistleblower Regrets not Having Blown Her Whistle Stronger
Jennifer Haselberger calls the Catholic Church her home. Two relatives went into religious life. Haselberger was a canon lawyer for the archdiocese until she could no longer tolerate her warnings of sexual abuse being ignored by church officials. Haselberger says that she began complaining to church leaders about a priest in 2008. Their inaction allowed […]
Ag-gag v. Whistleblowing
On February 8, 2013, Amy Meyer went to the Dale Smith Meatpacking Company in Draper City, Utah to see where her meat comes from. She peeked through the barbed wire fence and saw a sick cow being treated like rubble. She pulled out her smartphone and began filming the scene. For her good intentions, Meyer […]
ATF Special Agent’s Whistleblowing Creates a First Amendment Showdown
What is earnest is not always true; on the contrary, error is often more earnest than truth. Benjamin Disraeli The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) special Agent John Dodson is bringing together strange bedfellows — liberal groups like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and conservatives in Congress. The ACLU has thrown […]
Was Richard Bowen’s Whistle Stuffed?
Five years have passed since Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy. Richard M. Bowen III, a former Citigroup executive who blew the whistle on their bad business practices, provided 1000 pages of documents to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and 28 pages of testimony to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC). Nevertheless, Bowen’s voice has not been […]
Whistleblowing in Afghanistan Allegedly Elicits Retaliatory Response
I never did give anybody hell. I just told the truth and they thought it was hell. Harry S. Truman The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled in September 2013 that Mike Elder proffered sufficient evidence to continue with his False Claims Act action against DRS Technologies, Inc. (DRS). Facts of […]
SEC Whistleblower Program Gets Blowing
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced August 20, 2013 that it awarded more than $25,000 in total to three whistleblowers. The SEC reports that this payment was the first installment in a series that is projected to total $125,000 for each whistleblower. Enforcement action The awards are from the SEC’s enforcement action against CEO […]
