The Federal False Claims Act (“FCA”), 31 U.S.C. §§ 3729 et seq., is probably the best-known whistleblower statute, allowing private plaintiffs to bring suit on behalf of the Government in a qui tam suit. The federal Government also provides other, less well-known avenues for whistleblowers to shed light on corporate wrongdoing in return for a […]

Fired?  Laid off?  I’m sure you have so many things running through your mind right now.  Here are a few things to consider when reviewing your severance agreement. DON’T be pressured to respond or sign immediately. Your employer must give you time to review the agreement.  I frequently hear of employers trying to pressure or […]

The media has widely credited the Miami Herald’s “Perversion of Justice” series with “exposing” the unprecedented non-prosecution agreement (“NPA”) in which former U.S. Attorney (and current Trump Labor Secretary) Alexander Acosta agreed to allow billionaire Jeffrey Epstein to avoid federal prosecution for running an international child sex trafficking operation. But the true credit for exposing […]

It has never been better to be a whistleblower. First, agencies within the United States are prioritizing tips from whistleblowers to determine their enforcement actions. Second, under certain whistleblower statutes, a whistleblower is entitled up to 30% of the proceeds from those enforcement actions. And third, there are strong protections in place to protect whistleblowers […]

The False Claims Act (“FCA”), 31 U.S.C. §§ 3729 et seq., is the Government’s primary tool to recover losses due to fraud and abuse by those seeking payment from the United States.  See S. Rep. No. 345, 99 Cong., 2nd Sess. at 2 (1986) reprinted in 1986 U.S.C.C.A.N 5266. The FCA is a whistleblower statute, […]

Several recent studies demonstrate that age discrimination is pervasive in American workplaces, which is causing extensive damage to the health and careers of older workers.  According to a 2018 AARP survey, about three in five older workers have either seen or experienced age discrimination in the workplace, and more than nine in ten older workers […]

More and more, employers are forcing workers to give up their constitutional rights to seek justice in our nation’s courts. Instead of seeing their day in court, workers may be sidelined into “arbitration.” This means a private individual or “arbitrator” can decide a civil litigation case outside of court, without a judge or jury. Arbitration […]

Since its enactment in 2002, Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) has left a large, albeit often controversial, footprint in the world of corporate internal controls. As the compliance world has adjusted to the post-SOX era, businesses and courts have observed a growing need to address the current and future SOX requirements of private companies. This has had particular […]

If you live in Kentucky and are pregnant, planning to become pregnant, or breastfeeding, you should be aware of new protections that may apply to you and your employer. Last month Kentucky passed the Pregnant Workers Act with bipartisan support, making it the 25th state to pass specific legislation to protect pregnant employees. Federal laws […]

The qui tam provision of the False Claims Act allows private whistleblowers, known as relators, to file suit on behalf of the United States for fraud perpetrated against the federal government. There is certainly an upside to being a whistleblower because, under the False Claims Act, the whistleblower receives a percentage of any recovery that […]