Whistleblower Rights And Protections

Whistleblower laws help employees do the right thing and bring hidden information concerning corporate misconduct and fraud to the government’s attention. Whistleblowers work with their attorneys and the government to combat corporate fraud. In return, laws like the False Claims Act allow successful whistleblowers to recover 10 to 30% of the money recovered from the entity engaging in the fraud. If you are aware of misconduct or fraud taking place in your company, it is important that you talk to an attorney who is knowledgeable about the various whistleblower statutes, including the False Claims Act and the whistleblower protections provided by the Internal Revenue Code and the Securities and Exchange Commission as well as other laws. These laws allow individual whistleblowers to stand in the shoes of government and bring lawsuits to recover money that corporations have stolen from the public through fraud, but very specific steps must be followed in order to take advantage of these laws’ protections. TPG is committed to helping whistleblowers protect government interests under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act. TPG works with whistleblowers in all phases of the process, from initial meetings with government officials through the litigation process.

Federal and state False Claims Act statutes allow the government to recover three times the actual damages suffered from fraud, as well as additional civil penalties for each case of fraud. Whistleblowers have recovered more than $20 billion since 1986 for federal and state governments after bringing suit under these statutes. Whistleblowers who bring false claims cases are entitled to a portion of the amount the government recovers and since 1986, False Claims Act qui tam whistleblowers have been paid more than $2 billion. Whistleblowers can be employees with any type of role in an organization – for instance, they may be nurses or doctors; they may be in auditing or accounting roles; they may be contract managers or quality personnel.

Representative Types Of Fraud

• Medicare and Medicaid fraud – Healthcare providers who bill for services not provided, bill for services “upcoded” from services actually provided or who bill for services not provided in the manner required by federal regulations may have committed fraud against governments and may be liable under False Claims Acts.
• Pharmaceutical fraud – Pharmaceutical companies that engage in practices such as off-label marketing, kickbacks, upcharging for pharmaceuticals or charging for unused pharmaceuticals may have committed fraud against governments and may be liable under False Claims Acts.
• Defense contractor fraud – Defense contractors who charge the government for products not provided or who deliver products to the government that are not in compliance with contract or legal requirements may be liable under False Claims Acts for defense contractor fraud.
• Fraudulent loans and grant – Recipients of federal and state grants must conduct grant research or programs in compliance with legal and grant requirements. Grant recipients who deliver grant services or conduct grants in a way that violates grant requirements may be liable under False Claims Acts for fraud.