Category Archives: Whistleblower Litigation
When Do Reports Not Constitute Whistleblower Actions?
Not all reports of internal wrongdoing are technically considered whistleblower actions. In 2013, the First Circuit Court established an important “job duties” exception related to the Maine Whistleblowers Protection Act. The exception states that employee’s reports are not considered whistleblowing if making such internal reports of wrongdoing is part of the employee’s job. Since the […]
New OSHA Directive to Help Resolve Whistleblower Complaints Early
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a number of new procedures and policies August 19, outlining how a new process will be established to resolve whistleblower disputes more efficiently. The goal is to get whistleblower complaints resolved early on and to spend less time in court with each action. This process is being […]
How Long Do Employers Have to Repay After a False Claims Act Violation?
According to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, anyone who receives an overpayment of Medicaid or Medicare funds report is required to pay back the amount of the overpayment within 60 days of when the problem was discovered and identified. The failure to repay is considered a violation of the False Claims […]
Hanford Whistleblower Case Comes to $4.1 Million Settlement
A former employee at a nuclear weapons cleanup project run by Hanford recently came to a $4.1 million settlement in a lawsuit alleging the company retaliated against him for speaking up about questionable safety practices. The employee and plaintiff in the case was Walter Tamosaitis, who had been a contractor at the Hanford site in […]
Albuquerque Public Schools Whistleblower Speaks Out About Allegations
Don Moya, the chief financial officer of the Albuquerque (New Mexico) Public Schools, recently filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the school district, its superintendent (Luis Valentino) and the New Mexico Public Education Department Secretary (Hanna Skandera). The lawsuit includes multiple claims against the defendants, and Moya recently spoke publicly about a few of them. According […]
Whistleblower Accuses Medicare Advantage Organizations of Overbilling
A Texas whistleblower has filed a lawsuit against CenseoHealth LLC and various other Medicare Advantage organizations, claiming they have been regularly overcharging Medicare for the in-home care they provide to patients. The plaintiff is Becky Ramsey-Ledesma, a former coding manager for Censeo, and she has demanded her claim be presented in a jury trial. The […]
5th Circuit Court Revives a SOX Whistleblower Action
The Fifth Circuit Court recently revived Wallace v. Tesoro Corp, a Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower complaint that had previously been dismissed by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. The Fifth Circuit found the plaintiff’s alleged belief that the company was in violation of certain Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules was not unreasonable. […]
Civil Servants: the Government’s First Line of Defense Against Corruption
Within the last five years, the federal government has introduced unprecedented levels of protection for whistleblowers and greater incentives for them to come forward in the form of record amounts of financial compensation. This is because the government has recognized that people who serve in government jobs on local levels are truly the nation’s first […]
Senate Once Again Looks at Antitrust Whistleblower Protection Bill
In June, some members of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee introduced a new measure entitled the Criminal Antitrust Anti-Retaliation Act of 2015. This bill, if approved, would add some additional protection for whistleblowers who give information to the Department of Justice about certain wrongdoing and criminal violations of federal antitrust laws. The legislation wouldn’t just […]
Armani Accused of Retaliating Against Whistleblower Who Claims Racial Discrimination
The Giorgio Armani Corporation recently became the target of a whistleblower lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, by Norma Moreno, a former sales associate for the well-known brand. Moreno claims Barbara Camozzi, the general manager of the luxury fashion retailer, regularly discriminated against minority customers and employees and that […]
