The Office of Special Counsel says it has confirmed a complaint of whistleblower retaliation in a case unusual in that the personnel actions at issue were ordered at a high agency level.
While whistleblower reprisal complaints commonly arise from actions taken by the employees’ supervisors, in this case the supervisors not only did not advocate the personnel action but actively opposed it, the OSC said in its announcement.
The case involved an employee who along with a coworker disclosed that ...
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Whistleblower Protections
Charge against ex-Iowa judge is retaliation, supporters say
IOWA CITY, Ia. — Authorities charged a former Iowa judge with insurance fraud days after she appeared in court to challenge her two-year-old firing over the same allegation — timing that her supporters call retaliation.
Former Administrative Law Judge Susan Ackerman joined her union, AFSCME Iowa Council 61, in a Polk County courtroom on Dec. 16 as the union sought to overturn an error-riddled arbitration decision that upheld her termination.
Four days later, Ackerman was told a warrant had bee...
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JPMorgan Chase Fined $264 Million Violations of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
JPMorgan Chase improperly hired the "unqualified" children of China's ruling elite to try to win lucrative business from the country's key decision makers, authorities alleged on Thursday.
Regulators slapped JPMorgan (JPM) with $264 million in fines and said the bank "corruptly influenced government officials" with its hiring practices in China.
The settlement ends a three-year investigation into JPMorgan and marks one of the first major crackdowns on a big U.S. bank for running afoul of t...
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OSHA’s whistleblower complaint against automotive supplier resolved
OSHA's whistleblower complaint against automotive supplier resolved
Lear Corp. agrees to makes significant changes at Selma plant
MOBILE, Ala. The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that its lawsuit against Lear Corp., doing business as Renosol Seating LLC, and three of its managers in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama has been resolved. The company manufactures foam seating for the automotive industry. The department and the company have filed a joint moti...
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SEC Charges Anheuser-Busch InBev With Violating FCPA and Whistleblower Protection Laws
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Anheuser-Busch InBev has agreed to pay $6 million to settle charges that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and chilled a whistleblower who reported the misconduct.
An SEC investigation found that the company used third-party sales promoters to make improper payments to government officials in India to increase the sales and production of Anheuser-Busch InBev products in that country. Despite repeated complain...
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JP Morgan whistleblower suit revived – U.S. appeals court
A federal appeals court revived a former JP Morgan Chase private banker’s whistleblower lawsuit accusing the bank of firing her in retaliation for warning that an Israeli client might be committing fraud.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in New York found enough evidence to suggest that former JP Morgan employee Jennifer Sharkey had a “reasonable belief” that the client was engaged in fraud and money laundering involving Colombia.
Sharkey said she was fired as a vice president a...
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Deutsche Bank Whistleblower Turned Down $8.25 million Reward
A whistleblower who helped reveal false accounting at Deutsche Bank has refused an $8.25 million award from a U.S. securities regulator because of the agency's failure to punish bank executives, the Financial Times reported.
Eric Ben-Artzi, a former Deutsche Bank risk officer, wrote in an opinion article in the Financial Times that the $55 million U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission penalty on which the award is based should have been paid by Deutsche's executives.
Ben-Artzi, his law...
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New Whistleblower Protections for Contractors Gain Traction in Congress
A bipartisan group of House members on Thursday unveiled a Whistleblower Protections for Contractors Act (H.R. 5920), following movement last month on a similar bill in the Senate.
The bipartisan measure would give subgrantees and personal services contractors the same whistleblower protections currently afforded contractors, grant recipients and subcontractors.
“Whistleblowers are the front line of defense against waste, fraud, and abuse," read a joint statement from Reps. Elijah Cummings...
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Bipartisan Letter Questions Watchdog’s Whistleblower Program
Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA). Photo via Flick't user Gage Skidmore.
Bipartisan Letter Questions DoD's Whistleblower Program
While it is clear that numerous deficiencies remain within the DoD’s system for handling cases of whistleblower reprisal, the Congressional letter is a welcome indication that concern over the unlawful treatment of whistleblowers by the Pentagon is garnering increasing external attention that could help catalyze reform.
A bipartisan group of Members of Congres...
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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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