Qui Tam Whistleblower Lawyer
Legislative Updates
Congress Begins third attempt to stop Federal Circuit's hostility to whistleblowers
Category: Legislative Updates
A review of all whistleblower decisions by the Federal Circuit from October 1994 to October 2007, conducted by the Government Accountability Project (GAP), confirmed the feeling of many attorneys who work in the arena of the Federal Whistleblower Protection Act: that the Federal Circuit has a record of hostility to such cases...
Senate Extends Whistleblower Protection
Category: Legislative Updates
On December 18, 2007 the Senate unanimously passed its version of a law that will enhance whistleblower protections for federal employees. The Federal Employee Protection of Disclosures Act (S.274) enhances the protection of federal employee whistleblowers who report wrongdoing within their chain of command. The law will now go to conference to be reconciled with the House version (H.B.985) which passed in March 2007.
The law should be a start toward overturning the Supreme Court decision of Garcetti v. Ceballos which held that when a whistleblower has an employment duty to report wrongdoing, the First Amendment does not protect the employee against retaliation by their employer. Under the new law, federal employees reporting such wrongdoing within their chain of command are protected in so doing.
Unfortunately, Garcetti v. Ceballos will still apply to state employees.
New Mexico FCA
Category: Legislative Updates
New Mexico passed a version of the False Claims Act. It is called the Fraud Against Taxpayers Act.
State FCA Qui Tam statutes
Category: Legislative Updates
At least nineteen states are currently considering state False Claims Act statutes. This adds to state statutes in sixteen states, the District of Columbia, New York City and Chicago.
Proposed amendment to the FCA
Category: Legislative Updates
On May 4, 2006, U.S. Representative Brian Baird introduced a bill to amend the False Claims Act to restrict the ability of the executive branch to keep whistleblower lawsuits under seal and out of the public eye.
States need whistleblower provisions
Category: Legislative Updates
Senator Chuck Grassley has tried to pressure the executive branch to get the word out that under a new federal law states must have whistleblower provisions to qualify for an additional 10% of Medicaid funds.
Medicaid compliance plans -- the next stage in FCA litigation?
Category: Legislative Updates
A seemingly innocuous provision of the recent Deficit Reduction Act may end up having tremendous implications for qui tam cases. The law requires companies receiving more than $5 million in Medicaid reimbursements per year to have in place, by January 1, 1997, a written compliance plan detailing how they will ensure that they comply with Medicaid guidelines.
Continue reading "Medicaid compliance plans -- the next stage in FCA litigation?"