Agencies can't bar speech without reminding workers of their rights
In December, The Washington Post revealed that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had recommended employees not use certain words, including “diversity” and “entitlement,” when preparing budget documents for Congress. According to a federal watchdog, which verified parts of The Post’s reporting, this was one of several questionable decisions the CDC and its parent agency, the Department of Health and Human Ser...
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Author: WhistleBlowerStaff
Whistleblower Exposes $32M in Unaccounted Gear at Naval Base
Federal investigators announced Monday they had sent a letter to President Trump and Congress notifying them of "mismanagement" at a unit of Naval Base Ventura County, Port Hueneme.
The U.S. Office of Special Counsel's letter and an accompanying 2017 report by Navy investigators were prompted by complaints from a whistleblower who previously worked at the local base.
The Navy ultimately determined that more than $32 million worth of equipment could not be accounted for because warehouse em...
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Largest-Ever SEC Whistleblower Award
Washington D.C.,- The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced its highest-ever Dodd-Frank whistleblower awards, with two whistleblowers sharing a nearly $50 million award and a third whistleblower receiving more than $33 million. The previous high was a $30 million award in 2014.
“These awards demonstrate that whistleblowers can provide the SEC with incredibly significant information that enables us to pursue and remedy serious violations that might otherwise go unnoticed,” said J...
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New Jersey Appeals Court Gives State Larger Chunk of Whistleblower Awards
A whistleblower who was awarded $1.2 million in a False Claims Act suit must pay state taxes on the entire amount of the award, even if the amount paid in legal fees and portions of the proceeds were shared with other relators, a New Jersey appeals court ruled Thursday.
Anthony Kite, who filed a whistleblower suit accusing several hospitals of overbilling Medicare by as much as 400 percent, was able to deduct his legal fees for the case from his federal income taxes. But he must pay state tax...
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Business Insider / Foreign National Awarded $4.1 Million
The Securities and Exchange Commission awarded more than $4.1 million to a former company insider who alerted the agency to a widespread, multi-year securities law violation and continued to provide important information and assistance throughout the SEC’s investigation.
“Company insiders often have valuable information that can help the SEC halt an ongoing securities law violation and better protect investors,” said Jane Norberg, Chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower. “The breadth o...
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Over $162 million awarded to 47 Whistleblowers by SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that a whistleblower has earned an award of more than $1 million for providing the SEC with new information and substantial corroborating documentation of a securities law violation by a registered entity that impacted retail customers.
“Today’s award reflects the impact that whistleblower information can have in uncovering violations that harm the retail investor,” said Jane Norberg, Chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower. “W...
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Why the Scariest Nuclear Threat May Be Coming from Inside the White House
http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/07/department-of-energy-risks-michael-lewis/amp
What we know about Hanford we know mainly from whistle-blowers who worked inside the nuclear facility—and who have been ostracized by their community for threatening the industry in a one-industry town. (“Resistance to understanding a threat grows with proximity,” writes Brown.) One hundred and forty-nine of the tanks in the Hanford farms are made of a single shell of a steel ill-designed to contain highly...
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Former Cardiovascular Systems Inc. Employee Awarded $25 million in Whistleblower Lawsuit
A Los Angeles jury has awarded more than $25 million to a whistleblower who was fired for reporting what he considered illegal sales tactics and surgeon kickbacks by a Minnesota medical device company.
Steven Babyak won his lawsuit against former employer, St. Paul-based Cardiovascular Systems Inc., for both whistleblower retaliation and wrongful termination in Los Angeles Superior Court. The jury on Monday awarded $2.7 million for past and future wage loss, and $22.4 million in punitive dama...
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Walgreens Pays $9.86 Million Resolving Whistleblower Claims Of Fraud Against California’s Medi-Cal
Berger & Montague, P.C. announced today the settlement of a False Claims Act case against Walgreen Co. (Walgreens) for $9.86 million to resolve allegations that Walgreens falsely billed California's Medicaid Program, Medi-Cal. The settlement resolves allegations raised in two whistleblower lawsuits brought under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act. Berger & Montague represented former Walgreens pharmacy technician, Debbie G. Rinehart, who was one of the two individ...
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$5.4 Million Awarded to Former Wells Fargo Manager Whistleblower
A federal regulator on Monday ordered Wells Fargo to pay $5.4 million to a former manager who said he was fired in 2010 after reporting to his supervisors and to a bank ethics hotline what he suspected was fraudulent behavior.
The bank must also rehire him, the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration said.
The $5.4 million, intended to cover back pay, compensatory damages and legal fees, is the largest individual award ever ordered through OSHA’s whistle-blower...
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