Monthly Archives: June 2018
Mortuary Whistleblower Awarded $4 Million After Threats, Retaliation
A judge in Birmingham, Alabama, awarded nearly $4 million to a whistleblower who was a former employee of a mortuary. Barry Taul, the former mortuary worker, reported a scheme in which the mortuary paid out kickbacks to former officials of the Alabama Organ Center in exchange for more business referrals. The funeral home collected tissues […]
Supreme Court Decision Places Limitations on the Protections for Corporate Whistleblowers
A February U.S. Supreme Court decision significantly limited the protections available for corporate whistleblowers. The court ruled in the case of Digital Realty Trust v. Somers that corporate whistleblowers are not protected from termination unless they reported possible instances of fraud to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The case is a big blow for […]
Customs Fraud a Growing Area of Whistleblower Law
Whistleblower lawsuits are on the rise across the board as would-be whistleblowers have been emboldened by more federal protections and increasingly valuable awards. A new field has suddenly jumped to the forefront in the world of whistleblower law: customs fraud. A 2016 decision by a federal appeals court in the case of United States ex. […]
Epic Systems Accused of Healthcare Fraud in Whistleblower Lawsuit
A lawsuit filed against Epic Systems, a digital health care records company based in Verona, Wisconsin, alleges the company systematically overbilled the government for Medicare and Medicaid. The lawsuit was initially filed under the False Claims Act (FCA) in 2015 by Geraldine Petrowski, a former employee for a health care company in North Carolina. Under […]
California’s Napa County Works to Start a Whistleblower Program
In just the latest example of local municipalities following the lead of state and federal governments in taking whistleblower protections more seriously, Napa County in California is looking to start its own whistleblower program to combat fraud and waste in county government. After establishing a Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the county determined that without a […]
Centerlight Health System to Pay Nearly $60 Million in Whistleblower Billing Fraud Case
Centerlight Health System, Inc., a New York-based healthcare provider primarily serving elderly and disabled Medicaid patients, reached a new $10.3 million settlement in a case with state and federal elements over long-term care payments made to residents of adult homes, even if they were not eligible for coverage. Centerlight will pay this amount in addition […]
Incidents of Whistleblower Retaliation on the Rise
Over the last several years, we have seen the number of whistleblowers reporting internal wrongdoing dramatically increase. However, a new survey from the Ethics and Compliance Initiative (ECI) also indicates that incidents of whistleblower retaliation across the United States are also on the rise. ECI surveyed more than 5,000 employees in late 2017 as part […]
Whistleblower Sues Oregon Sheriff’s Department for Harassment and Retaliation
A sergeant in a sheriff’s department in northwest Oregon who alerted authorities to the poor performance of a detective in the department filed a $1.6 million lawsuit alleging supervisors in the department created a hostile work environment after he reported his concerns. The officer, Sgt. Matt Swanson, filed the lawsuit in early April in Oregon […]
