Category Archives: Whistleblower Litigation
Whistleblower Lawsuit Against Major Food Vendor Settles for $19 Million
The largest food vendor in Washington, D.C. will pay $19 million as a result of a whistleblower lawsuit claiming the company poorly managed and overcharged for public school meals. The lawsuit was filed against Chartwells and Thompson Hospitality, which had been providing meals for the schools since 2008. The suit claimed that in addition to […]
SEC Calls Itself Advocate of the Whistleblower
The U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) has continued to prove that it will support the whistleblower bounty program. Since the program’s creation in 2011, the agency’s Office of the Whistleblower has awarded more than $50 million to whistleblowers and continues to protect individuals who come forward to report fraudulent activity. SEC Chair Mary Jo White […]
Whistleblower Football Coach Files Suit Against High School
High school football coach Matt Strout has filed a whistleblower lawsuit against his former employer, Broward County Public Schools in south Florida. Strout alleges that following a complaint he issued against Miramar High School, he was fired from his position as a substitute teacher and football coach. Strout’s formal complaint detailed violations of the high […]
Whistleblower Alleges Discrimination, Claims Morbid Obesity is Legal Disability
The Eighth Circuit may reopen the 2013 case of a Kansas man who alleges the BNSF Railway Co. revoked his job offer because he was obese. The man, Melvin A. Morriss III, asserts that per the Americans with Disabilities Act, morbid obesity is a disability and that BNSF’s action was discrimination. Morriss claims his obesity […]
Department of Justice Intervenes in False Claims Act Case Separation
The U.S. Department of Justice has entered an Alabama False Claims Act trial in an effort to advise against a hospice chain’s request to divide its upcoming trial into two separate phases. The chain, AseraCare Inc., was granted a division of its trial by a district judge, but the DOJ officials believe the separation of […]
IRS, Former Employees Oppose Liberty Medical Bankruptcy Plan
On June 10, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) alleged that the proposed Chapter 11 liquidation plan of Liberty Medical Supply Inc. restricts the federal agency’s rights to recover funds it is owed. Former employees of Liberty Medical, a provider of supplies for diabetics, have also criticized the plan, which they claim would allow the company […]
Whistleblower Retaliation Protections Upheld in Sixth Circuit
The Sixth Circuit of Appeals confirmed financial planner Michael Rhinehimer’s $250,000 award in his lawsuit against his former employer, U.S. Bancorp, for retaliation against a complaint. Through affirming Rhinehimer’s case, the Sixth Circuit has upheld Section 1514A of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which allows a whistleblower to act and be protected if the individual has reasonable […]
Recent Tax Court Decision Considered a Win for Whistleblowers
A tax court recently ruled that giving information to federal agencies and a division of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) before filing an Application for Award for Original Information (also known as Form 211) does not make a whistleblower ineligible to receive an award. There is a whistleblower program in place that provides compensation to […]
Police Officer Awarded $145,000 in Whistleblower Lawsuit
A police officer from Millburn, New Jersey was recently awarded $145,000 in a whistleblower lawsuit against the city. Sergeant Robert Ronceray initially filed the complaint in June 2013 against the Millburn Township and the Millburn Police Department under the Conscientious Employee Protection Act. According to documents from the suit, Ronceray claimed another officer ordered him […]
Whistleblower Reinstatement Highlights Need for Companies to Keep Detailed Files on Personnel
In 2012, a jury ruled that Bayer Corporation had unlawfully terminated one of its sales representatives, Mike Townsend, because he alerted the Arkansas Attorney General to incidents of physicians overbilling Medicaid for the company’s drugs. Just before the company fired Townsend, it had suspended his corporate credit card for six months after his wife accidentally […]
