Monthly Archives: May 2019
University of Michigan Pays $300,000 to Settle Wrongful Termination Lawsuit
The University of Michigan recently agreed to pay $300,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a former employer who alleged wrongful termination on the part of the school. The former employee was Amy J. Wang, who worked as an executive in technology services and the finance department. She claims she was fired after she blew […]
Police Dispatch Whistleblower Claims to Be Victim of Wrongful Termination
Bridget Bryden, a former dispatcher for the Santa Barbara Police Department, recently filed a lawsuit against the department, claiming she was fired in 2016 as retaliation for alerting higher-ups in the department about unsafe working conditions. Bryden claimed her firing was a result of her complaints that the qualification standards for new dispatchers to the […]
Whistleblower Alleges Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation Mishandled
In a recently filed a lawsuit in California, Jeff Werner, a former change control claims manager with the engineering company Stantec, alleges he was wrongfully terminated after discovering and reporting mandatory change order procedures were not being followed on an Oahu railway project. Werner worked on the rail from August 2016 to June 2017. While […]
Colorado Jury Awards Track Inspector $1.05 Million in Damages in Whistleblower Retaliation Claim
A jury in Colorado recently awarded Brandon Fresquez $1.05 million in damages for his whistleblower retaliation claim filed against BNSF Railway Company. The award includes $800,000 in emotional distress damages and $250,000 in punitive damages. Fresquez served as a track inspector at BNSF, and was responsible for analyzing tracks, finding defects and remediating those defects […]
Whistleblowers Claim Community Health Systems Repeatedly Violated False Claims Act
Two whistleblowers claim Community Health Systems, based in Franklin, Tennessee, submitted hundreds of millions of dollars worth of false claims to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for federal incentive payments given for meaningful use of electronic health records (EHRs). The lawsuit was unsealed by federal court in Miami recently. In it, plaintiffs […]
Los Angeles Jury Awards Whistleblower With $1.5 Million Verdict
A jury in Los Angeles issued a $1.5 million verdict to a former employee who alleged his company retaliated against him for reporting misconduct that violated the False Claims Act (FCA), the Defense Contractor Whistleblower Protection Act (DCWPA) and California’s whistleblower statute. The plaintiff is a former NASA Mars mission engineer who worked with ManTech […]
Recent College Admissions Scandal Leads to Whistleblower Hotline Reward
A recent college admissions scandal has been all over national news recently, leading to the indictment of more than 50 people nationwide — including some celebrities. In the wake of that scandal, there was a class action lawsuit filed against the University of Texas (which also fired its tennis coach), and now the creation of […]
IRS Reports a New Record $312 Million in Whistleblower Awards
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released a report in February providing an overview of its whistleblower program in what was a record-breaking year. Whistleblowers provided information during 2018 that aided in the agency’s recovery of more than $1.44 billion throughout the year, resulting in a total of $312 million awarded to those whistleblowers. This number […]
Supreme Court Appears Likely to Side with Whistleblowers in Time Limit Case
Parsons Corp, a government contractor, is alleged to have increased its wealth by tricking a legally blind official. Now, the U.S. Supreme Court appears likely to side against the contractor in a case that hinges on how much time whistleblowers have to file a claim. The law gives seemingly contradictory time windows in which whistleblowers […]
