Job Corps worker claims she was fired for blowing the whistle (2007)

From the Madison St. Clair Record

Read the rest of the story here:

“A Job Corps worker who claims she was fired March 23 for blowing the whistle on her employer filed suit for back pay, reinstatement and punitive damages in St. Clair County Circuit Court.”

Filed under: Employees, Job Corps, Newspaper Reports, Whistleblowers, blowing the whistle, fired, Job Corps, Madison St. Clair Record, St. Clair County Circuit Court

Qui Tam Important Website

Visit the website here:

Qui tam (commonly pronounced as “kwày tæm”) is an abbreviation from the Latin “qui tam pro domino rege quam pro sic ipso in hoc parte sequitur” meaning “who as well for the king as for himself sues in this matter.” 

Black’s Law Dictionary defines a qui tam action as “an action brought by an informer, under a statute which establishes a penalty for the commission or omission of a certain act, and provides that the same shall be recoverable in a civil action, part of the penalty to go to any person who will bring such action and the remainder to the state or some other institution.”

Qui tam is a provision of federal and state False Claims Acts that allows private citizens to file a lawsuit in the name of the federal and some state governments against individuals and entities who fraudulently obtain government funds while claiming an award in the event of a recovery.

Federal and state qui tam statutes have been enacted in order to effectively identify and prosecute government procurement and program fraud and recover revenue lost as a result of the fraud.

The qui tam provision has had the effect of privatizing government legal remedies by allowing private citizens to act as “private attorneys general” in the effort to prosecute government procurement and program fraud. Most of the recent successes in qui tam cases have been against healthcare and pharmaceutical companies. For example, in September 2009, the Federal Government announced the largest recovery ever in a qui tam case – over $2 Billion Dollars against Pfizer, Inc. (a case in which EY attorneys represented 2 of the whistleblowers). Other successful qui tam recoveries have been against defense contractors, energy companies, financial institutions, public education providers, NASA contractors, and construction and public transportation. Recoveries under the federal FCA along exceed $14 Billion Dollars.

 

Filed under: Citizen Action Websites, Whistleblowers, Qui Tam

“No employer shall make, adopt or enforce any rule, regulation, or policy preventing an employee from disclosing information to a government or law enforcement agency…”

This is from the Massachusetts State Attorney General’s Office… each state has its own Office of the Attorney General

PART I ADMINISTRATION OF THE GOVERNMENT

TITLE II EXECUTIVE AND ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICERS

OF THE COMMONWEALTH

Chapter 12 Department of the Attorney General and the District Attorneys

DEPARTMENT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

ALM GL ch. 12, ß 5J (2008)

ß 5J. Employee Protection.

(1) No employer shall make, adopt or enforce any rule, regulation,

or policy preventing an employee from disclosing information to a

government or law enforcement agency or from acting to further a

false claims action, including investigating, initiating, testifying, or

assisting in an action filed or to be filed pursuant to said sections

5B to 5O, inclusive. No employer shall require as a condition of

employment, during the term of employment, or at the termination

of employment, that any employee agree to, accept or sign any

agreement that limits or denies the employee’s rights to bring an

action or provide information to a government or law enforcement

agency pursuant to said sections 5B to 5O, inclusive. Any such

agreement shall be void.

(2) No employer shall discharge, demote, suspend, threaten, harass,

deny promotion to, or in any other manner discriminate against

an employee in the terms or conditions of employment because of

lawful acts done by the employee on behalf of the employee or

others in disclosing information to a government or law enforcement

agency or in furthering a false claims action, including investigation

for, initiation of, testimony for, or assistance in an action

filed or to be filed pursuant to sections 5B to 5O, inclusive.

(3) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, an

employer who violates paragraph (2) shall be liable for such damages

or equitable relief as a court shall deem appropriate, including:

reinstatement with the same seniority status such employee

would have had but for the employer’s violation of sections 5B to

5O, inclusive, two times the amount of back pay, interest on the

back pay, and compensation for any special damage sustained as a

result of the employer’s violation of said sections 5B to 5O, inclusive.

In addition, the defendant shall be required to pay litigation

costs and reasonable attorney’s fees. An employee may bring an

action in the appropriate superior court or the superior court of the

county of Suffolk for the relief provided in this section.

(4) An employee who is discharged, demoted, suspended, harassed,

denied promotion, or in any other manner discriminated

against in the terms and conditions of employment by his employer

because of participation in conduct which directly or indirectly resulted

in a false claim being submitted to the commonwealth or a

political subdivision thereof shall be entitled to the remedies pursuant

to paragraph (3) only if both of the following occurred:

(i) the employee has been harassed, threatened with termination or

demotion, or otherwise coerced by the employer or its management

into engaging in the fraudulent activity in the first place; and

(ii) the employee voluntarily disclosed information prior to being

dismissed to a government or law enforcement agency or acts in

furtherance of a false claims action, including investigation for,

initiation of, testimony for, or assistance in an action filed or to be

filed.

PART I ADMINISTRATION OF THE GOVERNMENTTITLE II EXECUTIVE AND ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICERSOF THE COMMONWEALTHChapter 12 Department of the Attorney General and the DistrictAttorneysDEPARTMENT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERALALM GL ch. 12, ß 5J (2008)ß 5J. Employee Protection.(1) No employer shall make, adopt or enforce any rule, regulation,or policy preventing an employee from disclosing information to agovernment or law enforcement agency or from acting to further afalse claims action, including investigating, initiating, testifying, orassisting in an action filed or to be filed pursuant to said sections5B to 5O, inclusive. No employer shall require as a condition ofemployment, during the term of employment, or at the terminationof employment, that any employee agree to, accept or sign anyagreement that limits or denies the employee’s rights to bring anaction or provide information to a government or law enforcementagency pursuant to said sections 5B to 5O, inclusive. Any suchagreement shall be void.(2) No employer shall discharge, demote, suspend, threaten, harass,deny promotion to, or in any other manner discriminate againstan employee in the terms or conditions of employment because oflawful acts done by the employee on behalf of the employee orothers in disclosing information to a government or law enforcementagency or in furthering a false claims action, including investigationfor, initiation of, testimony for, or assistance in an actionfiled or to be filed pursuant to sections 5B to 5O, inclusive.(3) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, anemployer who violates paragraph (2) shall be liable for such damagesor equitable relief as a court shall deem appropriate, including:reinstatement with the same seniority status such employeewould have had but for the employer’s violation of sections 5B to5O, inclusive, two times the amount of back pay, interest on theback pay, and compensation for any special damage sustained as aresult of the employer’s violation of said sections 5B to 5O, inclusive.In addition, the defendant shall be required to pay litigationcosts and reasonable attorney’s fees. An employee may bring anaction in the appropriate superior court or the superior court of thecounty of Suffolk for the relief provided in this section.(4) An employee who is discharged, demoted, suspended, harassed,denied promotion, or in any other manner discriminatedagainst in the terms and conditions of employment by his employerbecause of participation in conduct which directly or indirectly resultedin a false claim being submitted to the commonwealth or apolitical subdivision thereof shall be entitled to the remedies pursuantto paragraph (3) only if both of the following occurred:(i) the employee has been harassed, threatened with termination ordemotion, or otherwise coerced by the employer or its managementinto engaging in the fraudulent activity in the first place; and(ii) the employee voluntarily disclosed information prior to beingdismissed to a government or law enforcement agency or acts infurtherance of a false claims action, including investigation for,initiation of, testimony for, or assistance in an action filed or to befiled.

Filed under: Whistleblowers, Job Corps whistleblowers

National Whistleblowers Center

In 2002 Time Magazine named Whistleblowers as their “Persons of the Year.”

Read the article here

“Workers who stand up for their co-workers and the public good against lawbreaking employers are among the unsung heros of our society.”

John J. Sweeney, President, American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organization

“Whistleblowers Are The Cornerstone of Fraud/Misconduct Detection and Deterrence Whistleblowers are the single most important corporate resource for detecting and preventing fraud. That was the finding of the two most recent studies on fraud detection. A third statistically valid study mirrors these findings, and applies them to federal government employees.”

Stephen M. Kohn, President, National Whistleblowers Center, March 2009

Read Mr. Kohn’s important report here

The National Whistleblowers Center

Visit this important organization to learn about your rights and how you may be helped with reporting wrongdoings you have witnessed.  I emailed this organization and they wrote back to me in the same day with attorney referrals in my area.  It’s a must read!

http://www.whistleblowers.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=40&Itemid=110

Click here to submit a confidential report!

Read the blog here!

Filed under: Whistleblowers, Job Corps whistleblowers, National Whistleblowers Center, Whistleblowers