Keller Grover attorney Kathleen R. Scanlan joined Deputy Assistant U.S. Attorney General for the Department of Justice’s Commercial Litigation Branch, Michael D. Granston, to discuss their views on whistleblower law and the critical role whistleblowers play in False Claims Act enforcement as panelists during a Nov. 2 webinar sponsored by the Federal Bar Association’s Qui Tam Section.
Ms. Scanlan primarily represents whistleblowers using the False Claims Act and state versions of the FCA to expose fraud on the government. These laws allow whistleblowers, also known as relators, to collect a percentage of fraud recoveries. Among other cases, she was counsel of record in United States ex rel Kathy Ormsby v. Sutter Health and Palo Alto Medical Foundation. In 2021, Sutter settled all claims for $90 million, one of the largest settlements ever involving a Medicare Advantage provider. Ms. Scanlan is also a member of The Anti-Fraud (TAF) Coalition, which works to empower whistleblowers, and was the founding chair of TAF’s Public Education Committee. She is currently developing new educational initiatives to further TAF’s mission to support whistleblowers and their lawyers.
During the webinar, Ms. Scanlan said that while large whistleblower settlements capture headlines, she also works on smaller cases where the average relator’s share barely keeps up with an average worker’s annual salary. On top of that, whistleblowers take great risks by speaking out against fraud against the government. There’s a personal cost to prevent taxpayers like themselves from getting ripped off.
“These cases go on for a long time…” she said. “A lot of (whistleblowers) get blackballed in their industries, and they’re not allowed to find places to work after they’ve filed these kinds of cases. …
“Smaller cases often involve key employees who are taking a big risk, to either disclose patient harm, or risks to our troops, or other material events that wouldn’t be known by the government except for this courageous individual who’s stepping forward to disclose what’s happening within their company.”
Deputy Assistant U.S. Attorney General Granston agreed with Ms. Scanlan’s view of the importance of whistleblowers, who are often the only people willing to share information that can stop or expose a fraud.
“There’s all sorts of creative ways to engage in fraud, and ferreting out the next fraud scheme is always the challenge, right? We may find a particular fraud and course of conduct we address it. But then defendants move on to something new,” he said. “And that’s why we need to use all the tools at our disposal … to try to stay ahead rather than behind the fraud curve.”
Employees who see wrongdoing at their companies aren’t the only ones who choose to become whistleblowers, Ms. Scanlan said.
“We are increasingly seeing companies who are competitors, who are willing to become whistleblowers against their competitors when they can see that their competitors are getting an advantage over them…” she said. “I think the people who run these companies have an honest incentive, they’re taxpayers, they’re getting ripped off as taxpayers and their businesses are being impacted as a result of fraud.”
Ms. Scanlan also spoke on recent developments in FCA law. She emphasized the public-private partnership between whistleblowers and the government at the heart of the law and the importance of ongoing communication between the whistleblower’s counsel and the U.S. Attorneys, whether the government has intervened or the whistleblower and their counsel are litigating a non-intervened case.
If you want advice about how to handle suspected fraud, contact Keller Grover for a free and confidential consultation. With our proven track record of advocating for whistleblowers, we can help you understand all your options, protections, and best next steps. In more than 25 years litigating fraud and employment cases, Keller Grover has recovered billions for its clients.