Limits On Whistleblower Suits Over Regulations

The U.S. Supreme Court made it a little harder for lawyers to press whistleblower lawsuits over minor violations of government contract terms, but the court’s unanimous decision in Universal Health Services v. Escobar might also make it harder for defendants to dismiss suits before entering the expensive evidence-gathering phase known as discovery. The decision by Justice Clarence Thomas follows a middle path between the position of the government — that violating a single requirement, no m...
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$663 Million in Penalties for Maker of Guardrail

A Texas federal judge handed down a $663 million judgment Tuesday against Trinity Industries, the guardrail maker accused of producing a faulty product that can jam and spear through vehicles. The judgment stems from the trial held last year in a whistle-blower lawsuit filed by Josh Harman, a competitor who discovered in 2011 that Trinity had made a critical change to the dimensions of its ET-Plus guardrail in 2005, but failed to tell federal regulators as required by law. The jury found t...
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