Author Archives: Steve Kardell
Adopt an Internal Whistleblower Policy
It is highly recommended for companies and organizations to implement a strong internal whistleblower policy. The primary reasons for a corporate whistleblower system are to protect the company and its chief executive officer and chief financial officer from criminal indictment and the ensuing penalties and to protect the shareholders from losses of their equity interests. […]
Big Payout Rings Bank of America Fraud Trial
Money, not morality, is the principle commerce of civilized nations. – Thomas Jefferson Edward O’Donnell, a former executive at Countrywide Financial, Inc., may collect up to $1.6 million under an almost forgotten 1980s law. O’Donnell filed a whistleblower suit against the Bank of America last year under the False Claims Act, which empowers whistleblowers to bring […]
Blow Your Green Whistle to Protect the Environment
The Office of Inspector General is an independent office within the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that assists the agency in accomplishing its goals more efficiently. OIG conducts audits, investigations and evaluations of EPA programs and its contractors to promote effectiveness and prevent fraud, abuse and waste. OIG is dedicated to making America cleaner and […]
For Many Whistleblowers, No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth;not going all the way, and not starting. – Buddha Gregory Hicks bravely testified before Congress about the 9/11 attacks on the American diplomatic facility in Benghazi, Libya. He claimed that he was punished for stating that President Obama’s administration’s response the night of […]
Is Edward Snowden a Whistleblower?
The Federation of German Scientists (VDW), the International Association of Lawyers against Nuclear Arms (IALANA) and Transparency International bestowed the German Whistleblower Prize upon Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor who leaked information about the NSA’s surveillance of internet and phone activity. A Quinnipiac University national poll, conducted shortly after Snowden obtained […]
Whistleblowers Are Being Locked Out of the IRS
Except for the booming payout of $104 million to UBS whistleblower Bradley Birkenfeld, most of the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Whistleblower Program‘s claims have not elicited any rewards. Senate Finance Committee Senior Member Charles Grassley insists there are numerous whistleblowers with good claims, but few are finding success at the IRS. At an […]
SEC’s Whistleblower Program Is Waiting to Blow a Big Payout
Stephen Cohen, associate director of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Office of the Whistleblower, spent the early part of the summer blowing his commission’s whistle and promising big awards on the horizon. However, in its first three years, the SEC has made only two awards. In the first, the whistleblower received $50,000, 30 […]
National Defense Contractors’ Employees Now Have a Whistle
The 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), effective July 1, 2013, now offers employees of subcontractors with defense contracts the protection of the federal whistleblowing laws. Before the new law, subcontractors could only take their complaints of fraud or government waste to their bosses and not to a government office. Enhancing whistleblower protection for subcontractor […]
Whistleblowers Can Whistle Irish Tunes
Ireland’s minister for public expenditure and reform, Brendan Howlin, recently published the Protected Disclosures Bill, 2013, described as an important measure in the battle against corruption. Howlin said that lawmakers want to provide genuine employment and other protections to workers who were penalized or suffered harm for disclosing wrongdoing. Irish whistleblowing wrongdoing The new Irish […]
Courts Conducting the Whistleblowing
Whistleblowing is prevalent in the news. Edward Snowden and Bradley Manning captured our attention. As more claims emerge from workplaces, additional whistleblowing lawsuits are challenging the courts to define and interpret the many relevant laws. Asadi v. GE Energy (USA) Khaled Asadi raised concerns through GE Energy’s internal channels about the company engaging in bribery […]
