The False Claims Act establishes liability against persons who submit false claims for payment to the Government. It allows individuals who know about such fraud against the Government to file a lawsuit on behalf of the Government and to share in the proceeds of a recovery. So how does a person know if a claim […]

In an effort to enhance investor protections, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is proposing a new rule – Regulation Best Interest – that may come as a surprise to some investors. The SEC’s proposed rule requires your stockbroker to act in your best interest at the time he or she recommends an investment to […]

Did you know that, except in a few unusual circumstances, lenders and bank loan officers do NOT owe you a duty to act in your best interest?  Did you know that it is legal for them to offer you, and even recommend, a loan that you are not equipped to pay back? Oftentimes, when people […]

While whistleblowers already have several means to report fraud to the federal government—including the False Claims Act, the IRS whistleblower program, and the SEC and CFTC whistleblower programs—there is a new, bipartisan, fraud-fighting law on the books that rewards whistleblowers for valuable information in the auto industry. Since late 2015, the Motor Vehicle Safety Whistleblower […]

“We need not leave our common sense at the doorstep when we interpret a statute,” wrote a four-Justice plurality of the Supreme Court in Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins, 490 U.S. 228, 241 (1989), the seminal ruling that gender stereotyping by an employer is actionable as sex discrimination under Title VII. And yet, nearly three decades […]

The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) generally requires that employers pay employees at least $7.25 per hour. One of the few exceptions to the rule is “tipped employees” – including waiters, bartenders, and other employees who regularly receive gratuities for performing their jobs. The FLSA allows employers to subsidize the minimum wage paid to […]

We want to share with you a disturbing tale we heard recently from an investor in a private investment fund. We share this to alert you to “red flags” that signal the high likelihood of investor fraud. If you can spot them, you can better protect yourself from financial predators. The enactment of the Dodd-Frank […]

Job seekers are well acquainted with the black hole into which their resumes seem to fall.  They may submit dozens of applications to get one interview. And employers do not need a reason to toss a resume – they can lawfully do so for no reason at all.  It is, however, unlawful to reject an […]

Under the False Claims Act (FCA), the Government is entitled to recover money paid to private parties as a result of fraudulent conduct. Specifically, the Government is entitled to recover up to three times the primary damages it suffered as a result of the fraud, in addition to statutorily-fixed penalties for each false claim for […]

The federal False Claims Act—as well as state False Claims Acts—rewards the people who provide information about companies and individuals who cause federal and/or state government entities to pay these parties more than they’re entitled to receive. These statutes also permit whistleblowers to jointly bring False Claims Act lawsuits and then jointly share in the […]