At a hearing held by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, veteran Federal Aviation Administration inspectors and Southwest Airlines whistleblowers told lawmakers that the airline was allowed by FAA officials to repeatedly violate safety rules.
A Japanese drug manufacturer has settled a U.S. lawsuit charging the company with marketing a drug for uses that weren't approved by the FDA.
The controversial website Wikileaks.org, which has released 1.2 million documents including manuals relating to the U.S.-run Guantanamo Bay detention camp, has been taken offline following a court order issued by a U.S. District Court judge.
Read the qui tam glossary to find definitions of terms relating to qui tam, the Federal False Claims Act, and whistleblowers.
Qui tam is a stipulation of the Federal False Claims Act that allows private citizens, also known as whistleblowers, to bring a lawsuit on behalf of the government against persons who use government funds in a fraudulent way. Contact a qui tam attorney today if you feel you have a potential case.
Qui tam is a provision of the Federal False Claims Act that allows private citizens to bring a lawsuit on behalf of the government against persons who use government funds in a fraudulent way.
Qui tam suits are filed quite often, and with steadily increasing frequency since the False Claims Act Amendment in 1986.
Procurement fraud refers to deception for personal profit within the process of government contracting for goods and/or services.
Originally, healthcare fraud was defined as deceptive means used by an organization to profit from government healthcare agreements. That definition has more recently been extended to include unreasonable ignorance of the rules.
According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), over $3 billion has been recovered in qui tam lawsuits since 1986. More than half of those recoveries have involved healthcare fraud.
An Amendment to the Federal False Claims Act that was passed in 1986 greatly improved the qui tam award to the relator, or whistleblower.
A whistleblower is an individual who informs the government or other authorities of information that he or she believes constitutes a prohibited act.
Qui tam is a legal principle found in the Federal False Claims Act that allows any person, including corporations, known as whistleblowers, to bring a lawsuit on behalf of the government against anyone who uses government funds in a fraudulent way.
Qui tam allows private citizens, also known as whistleblowers, to bring a lawsuit on behalf of the government against persons who use government funds in a fraudulent way. Contact a qui tam attorney today if you feel you have a potential case. A qui tam lawyer can review your case and advise you of your legal options.
Healthcare fraud is the misstatement of facts – either knowingly or through unreasonable ignorance – that leads to unfair profit through medical coverage. Government agencies are constantly taking steps to try to combat healthcare fraud.
Government fraud is a serious crime refers to illegal acts that intentionally divest the government of funds through deception or scams. The most common types are procurement fraud, false claims and statements, and healthcare fraud.
Learn about the types of crimes that constitute "white collar" criminal cases, including embezzlement, fraud, extortion, bribery, and more. If you have been accused of a white collar crime, contact an attorney as soon as possible.
Former FBI Turkish language translator Sibel Edmonds has claimed that high-ranking US officials were paid to leak nuclear weapons secrets that were subsequently sold on the international black market.
In a letter to the Nevada State Health Division, the Nevada State Medical Association has recommended that foreign doctors who complain of illegal exploitation be shielded from retaliatory treatment by whistleblower protection.
Administrative Law Judge Debra Little Cohn ruled this week that Suzanne Ward, a nurse formerly employed by Wisconsin's Department of Corrections, was mistreated and unfairly disciplined by DOC managers attempting to undermine her credibility.
The Senate and House Armed Services Committees have agreed to approve strengthened whistleblower protection for employees of defense contractors who report corruption, abuse, threats to public safety, mismanagement, or waste of DoD funds.
Priscilla Denney, a Dow engineer, has filed a whistleblower lawsuit in Saginaw County Circuit Court alleging that that she was demoted after raising concerns about Dow data regarding levels of dioxin in Michigan's Tittabawassee River.
Dan Ross, a former accounting professor and internal auditor at the University of Kentucky, has filed suit against the school, claiming he was fired after reporting suspected violations following an internal audit of school finances.
Speaking Wednesday before the House Homeland Security Committee, U.S. Transportation Security Administration head Kip Hawley said he will take action to extend federal whistleblower protection to the nation's airport checkpoint and baggage screeners.
The Labor Dept.'s Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) has agreed to look into claims made by Wal-Mart employee Chalace Lowry, who alleges she suffered retaliatory treatment after reporting suspicious activities within the company.
Former AT&T technician Mark Klein visited Capitol Hill last week in an attempt to convince the Senate and House Judiciary Committees not to grant retroactive immunity from eavesdropping lawsuits to telecommunications providers.
Rep. William Pascrell criticized the head of the Transportation Security Administration during a hearing Tuesday for being unfamiliar with several cases in which TSA employees suffered retaliatory treatment after reporting airport security problems.
Former Eastern Michigan University President John A. Fallon III has filed suit against the university's board of regents, claiming he was terminated to prevent him from speaking out about suspected legal violations by the board.
Two years after Hurricane Katrina devastated much of New Orleans, the top U.S. Army Corps of Engineers specialist overseeing the city's emergency pumping equipment says the new system is inherently faulty.
Several whistleblowers appeared before the Senate Democratic Policy Committee Friday to share their stories of degrading retaliatory treatment and abuse at the hands of both US military officials and military contracting firms.
In celebration of its 30th anniversary, the Government Accountability Project (GAP) is honoring four whistleblowers and congressional defenders of government accountability, public safety, and whistleblower protections at a gala event co-hosted by Erin Brockovich.
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and the city were found liable today for the unfair punishment of two former police officers who investigated allegations of misconduct by the mayor and his staff.
The Massachusetts Appeals Court has ruled that whistleblower Peter Scannell, who reported trading abuses at Boston-based Putnam Investments, is not entitled to receive a share of settlements recovered from the company.
Ex-Iasis Vice President for ethics and compliance Jerre Frazier has filed a federal lawsuit claiming his former employer performed medically unnecessary procedures, bilking the government out of millions.
Two state employees have filed suit against the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, alleging they were subjected to retaliatory treatment after one of them filed a whistleblower complaint.
The town of Cazenovia has paid nearly $100,000 to settle claims that a worker who reported possible violations of environmental law was subjected to harassment and retaliatory measures that resulted in on-the-job injury.
Under the terms of a settlement reached this week, Reston, Virginia-based Maximus Inc. will pay $30.5 million to settle a false claims case filed following a federal investigation of the company’s activities.
A man who lost his job for reporting financial conflicts of interest at the Hopkinton State Fair in New Hampshire will receive the amount of his attorney’s fees as part of his settlement.
Two former Cendant executives were spared prison time in repayment for their cooperation in the recent accounting fraud case against the corporation.
According to the lawsuit, Kerr-McGee, which is now a unit of Anadarko Petroleum, underpaid $7.5 million in royalties to the U.S. Government.
The state of Illinois has recently joined in a qui tam suit targeting more than 20 radiology centers with allegations that they participated with local physicians in over-billing insurance companies to gain kickbacks.
42 cardiologists who are members of East Tennessee Heart Consultants (ETHC) have agreed to pay restitution and settlements after being found guilty of defrauding patients, insurance companies, the state of Tennessee and the U.S. Government.
Louis Freeh, former FBI Director, has just been hired by DaimlerChrysler to serve as an external monitor during an investigation into claims of bribery.
The IRS recently announced that whistleblowers who turn in tax cheaters are now eligible to receive up to 30% of what the IRS recovers.
During the 2006 fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, the U.S. government made record-breaking recoveries in the form of compensation for fraud.
Mississippi State officials are asking a judge to drop a lawsuit against two sisters who blew the whistle on a State Farm Insurance manager for allegedly attempting to alter records in order to deny policyholders' claims.
A former forest preserve district worker has been fighting for three years to regain his job after accusing county officials of maintaining a fleet of portable toilets for use solely at an annual picnic.
On Monday, a Chicago federal jury ordered Amerigroup Corp. to pay $48 million in damages for discriminating against pregnant women and other Medicaid-eligible applicants. The amount was automatically tripled under the federal False Claims Act.
Dr. Adam Finkel, former Rocky Mountain regional director for the U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration, has been selected as the recipient of the prestigious David P. Rall Award for Advocacy in Public Health.
James A. Hicks, former employee of Oracle-bought PeopleSoft, will recover over $17 million of a $98.5 million settlement under the provisions of the False Claims Act.
The National Security Whistleblowers Coalition, in conjunction with more than 100 whistleblowers organizations, is calling upon Congresman Duncan Hunter to support their demand for comprehensive whistleblower protection clauses to be added to our legal codes.
The U.S. government has joined a qui tam lawsuit filed against Dey Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Merck.
Last year, former Kellogg, Brown & Root employee Julie McBride filed a qui tam suit under the federal False Claims Act against her former employer, a subsidiary of Halliburton.
Voter advocates recently filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the use of “paperless" electronic voting machines in the state of Pennsylvania. The plaintiffs argue that these machines are unreliable and do not sufficiently document records.
41-year-old Michael De Kort recently skyrocketed to Internet fame with the airing of his 10-minute You Tube video alleging corruption in a military contract for which he was formerly an engineer.
In a ruling from the high court of the country, the Supreme Court has made significant changes to the whisleblower rights afforded government workers.
A May 2005 whistleblower lawsuit filed in Suffolk Superior Court has led to indictments against six Boston men. The defendants, all current or former employees of Aggregate Industries, are charged with making false statements, mail fraud and conspiracy to defraud the government.
A decision by the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board to grant whistleblower protections to government doctors is good news to the thousands of federal doctors and medical researchers who work on government research, medical work and safety reviews.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is battling AT&T regarding a whistleblowers contention that the communications giant helped the National Security Administration monitor traffic on the internet.
The city of Columbus, Ohio will pay $307,495 to resolve a lawsuit brought by a whistleblower who alleged malfeasance in the city's sewer division.
A $2.6 million settlement has been reached with a cardiologist to resolve a federal lawsuit originally filed by a whistleblower.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has agreed to a $500,000 settlement to resolve a qui tam lawsuit filed by a former construction worker who reported consulting firms over charged the agency.
According to attorneys for the state of Georgia and the United States, those involved with the malfeasance that took place at Life Care Center of Lawrenceville will pay a$2.5 million settlement to resolve allegations of violating the federal False Claims Act.
A former employee of Maricopa County has been awarded $4.75 million in a whistleblower lawsuit.
A whistleblower who filed a qui tam lawsuit against Weill Cornell Medical School on behalf of the National Health Institute will receive $877,000 for alerting authorities to fund misuse.
The United States will receive a $4.75 million settlement from Office Depot to resolve allegations that the company sold products made in countries not authorized under the Trade Agreements Acts.
GlaxoSmithKline has agreed to a $150 million settlement to resolve claims the company inflated the price of two of its medications for the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
The U.S. attorney's office in Chicago is intervening in a whistleblower lawsuit accusing an Illinois HMO of defrauding the Medicaid health insurance program for the poor.
A group of pipefitters who were fired by a contractor at the Hanford nuclear reservation for voicing safety concerns have been awarded $4.7 million by a Washington jury.
A Michigan jury has awarded $80,000 to an employee who filed a whistleblower suit against an auto body shop.
An $82,000 settlement has been reached between Winston-Salem State University and a former employee who filed a qui tam lawsuit after she was fired from the institution.
A Pennsylvania township has reached a $40,000 settlement with a former employee who says she was wrongfully terminated after alleging corruption and fraud had taken place.
A former employee has filed suit against a Florida aircraft supply company, saying he was fired after providing investigators with information leading to charges against its president for grand theft and dealing in stolen property.
The D.C. Water and Sewer Authority has been found liable for damages after firing a contractor who raised concerns about safety to authorities.
The former Putnam Investments employee who blew the whistle on rapid trading at the mutual-fund firm has filed suit against the state of Massachusetts and its attorney general to collect the award he believes he is owed.
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