Who is a whistleblower?
We all hear the term whistleblower in the news a lot more these days and it seems to be applied to a lot of different people. Generally, a whistleblower is someone who exposes information that is not just sensitive; it reveals actual wrongdoing. That wrongdoing can take many forms and there’s a lot of debate about whether some whistleblowers are acting lawfully or not. When it comes to a fraud on the government, though, there is no doubt that Congress wants whistleblowers to come forward – so much so that it created special laws to encourage them to come forward, protect them when they do and reward them for doing it. A whistleblower with evidence of fraud on the government may be able to use the federal or state False Claims Acts to help expose the fraud, recover money on behalf of the government, protect themselves from improper retaliation, and share in the reward.
What do you do if you are considering reporting fraud by your company and bringing a False Claims Act case?
First you should contact an experienced whistleblower attorney to help evaluate whether you have enough information to bring a False Claim Act case. The rules are complicated and a whistleblower cannot bring a False Claims Act case without a lawyer.
An experienced whistleblower attorney will also help to ensure that you are protected from retaliation by your employer for reporting what you have witnessed and to analyze how other laws may also be used to help the whistleblower.
If someone already Reported the Fraud, do they still need a lawyer?
If a whistleblower has already reported the fraud internally, they still should consult a lawyer. A lot of whistleblowers report what they witness internally at their employer before they contact a lawyer. They expect the problem is just an oversight or mistake and will be remedied as soon as they point out that it happened. Unfortunately, many times, that’s when the whistleblower learns it’s no mistake at all and the retaliation against them begins. It’s a scenario we’ve seen play out over and over again. An experienced whistleblower lawyer will come up to speed quickly on the complete situation and dive in to help the whistleblower understand his or her rights and whether to bring an action. An experienced whistleblower lawyer will also help protect the whistleblower if they are retaliated against by their employer for reporting the wrongdoing. . If the case is successful, the whistleblower lawyer will also advocate for the whistleblower to obtain the maximum amount available under the law as their reward for exposing the fraud.
Why does Keller Grover represent whistleblowers?
At Keller Grover we have the deepest respect for people willing to expose a fraud. Whistleblowers are courageous, dedicated people and I know first-hand how they are impacted by what they’ve witnessed and how committed they are to exposing what they know. They deserve a legal team that is as invested as they are. That’s something I am proud to say Keller Grover does really well. We’re in this together with our whistleblowers. We devote significant time and the firm’s resources to every one of our whistleblower cases.
I’ve worked on all kinds of cases. Some of them have even re-shaped the way business is conducted in certain industries. But the cases that are the most satisfying for me are the ones where we get to represent a whistleblower exposing fraud on the government. We get the privilege of representing someone who is stepping forward to expose a wrongdoing that is costing all of us as taxpayers. A lot of people go to law school hoping they’ll represent clients like this. We actually do.
How Is Keller Grover Uniquely Suited to Represent Whistleblowers?
When whistleblowers come to Keller Grover they are trying to expose a fraud they’ve witnessed. So they need a lawyer with experience handling fraud cases. But often times they have spoken up about wrong doing at their jobs and have been subjected to retaliation for trying to do the right thing. This almost always means they have workplace legal issues to work out. They need a lawyer who is going to help them with their employment issues too. We have years of experience fighting fraud and representing whistleblowers. But we also have a team of skilled employment lawyers with more than 20 years of experience dealing with employment issues who support our whistleblower clients in that part of the process as well. There are firms out there with experience in one area or the other. But we’re rare in that we are committed to representing whistleblowers and have experience in both fraud and employment matters.
For more information download a free eBook Title or fill the form on this website to get help reporting fraud against the government now.
MINI Chapters
Associated FAQs (from KG FAQ document)
- What is a whistleblower?
Simply put a whistleblower is someone who “blows the whistle” on misconduct by reporting concerns about alleged illegal or fraudulent conduct to the appropriate authorities. When the wrongdoing is a fraud on the government a whistleblower might expose healthcare fraud, defense contractor fraud, procurement fraud, or even fraud for underpaying the government. Most importantly, a whistleblower who has information about a fraud on the government will be able to use laws passed especially to encourage, protect and promote this exact kind of whistleblowing.
- What Laws Can a Whistleblower Use?
The federal False Claims Act is one of the most powerful tools available to the whistleblower. It was originally signed into law in 1863 to help combat fraud by suppliers to the United States government during the Civil War. Today, more than 150 years later, the False Claims Act remains one of the federal government’s most effective weapons in fighting fraud against the government. It has been so successful that many states and even some cities have passed similar laws to target fraud on them too. So, depending on who the “victim” of the fraud is, there are a variety of laws designed to help someone “blow the whistle” on a government fraud.
- What does Qui Tam mean?
Qu tam is a latin phrase to describe the special situation where a private citizen brings a lawsuit to recover on behalf of the government. The defendant in a qui tam lawsuit is a company or citizen who has committed fraud or violated certain governmental regulations in a contract or other relationship with the government. When a qui tam lawsuit is successful, the government is entitled to triple its damages, penalties and the qui tam whistleblower gets a percentage of whatever the government recovers. Qui tam lawsuits are a very special partnership between the government and private citizens that enables the government to recover billions dollars from wrongdoers every year.
- What are whistleblower rewards?
Most whistleblowers are not familiar with whistleblower rewards. Qui tam whistleblowers (also called “relators”) receive a percentage of the funds the federal or state government successfully recovers either by settlement or by judgment. By law that amount is 15 to 30 percent of the government’s recovery, depending on a few factors. These rewards provide incentives to whistleblowersto come forward to help identify these frauds despite the potential risks.
- What does the whistleblower need to know about the wrongdoing?
False Claims Act cases are basically fraud cases. To prove a fraud a whistleblower needs more than a suspicion that there’s wrongdoing . A good rule of thumb is to ask whether you can answer the who, what, when, and why of the fraud. But most importantly, the whistleblower should know HOW the fraud occurred. That is what the government is going to ask, and that’s what is going to have to be proven in court.
- Is there some smoking gun type evidence that a whistleblower should have to bring a False Claims Act case?
If I’ve learned anything as a fraud lawyer over the last 20 years, it’s that no two cases are exactly alike. So there is just no way to say what a smoking gun might be in a particular instance. But any kind of documents or other information that back up or support what the whistleblower believes to be the fraud is extremely helpful. Any information that can be used to make it harder for the defendant accused of fraud to turn the case into a ‘he said, she said’ kind of situation where it’s the whistleblower’s word against everyone else’s. It’s actually one of the most important reasons for a potential whistleblower to contact a whistleblower lawyer early – to understand what they have and to decide based on that information whether to go forward with a lawsuit or not.
- What are the different types of whistleblower False Claims Act cases?
The US government buys everything from computers and office supplies to healthcare and guided missiles. Any contractor selling a product or service to the government who engages in fraud in a government contact may face liability under the False Claims Act. That means whistleblower cases can come from many different industries and whistleblowers can report many different types of fraud, like: healthcare fraud, Medicare fraud, defense contractor fraud, research grant fraud, pharmaceutical fraud, construction and procurement fraud, . Even underpaying the government is a fraud.
- What is the False Claims Act?
The False Claims Act is a federal law that imposes liability on companies or individuals who defraud the government by improperly receiving payments from the Federal government, avoiding payment, or failing to return overpayments. It allows someone with knowledge of a fraud on the government to file a qui tam lawsuit to recover money owed to the government. By law, the whistleblower is entitled to a percentage of whatever the government recovers if the case is successful.
- What if the whistleblower learned of the fraud from publicly available information?
If the only information the whistleblower has is publicly available, the public disclosure bar may prevent the whistleblower from going forward with a lawsuit. That includes things publicly disclosed in any media, like newspapers, magazines, the internet, court records, administrative hearings, Congressional hearings or government reports. Even Freedom of Information Act requests can be a public disclosure! There is an exception if the whistleblower has independent information that adds something important to what the government knows so it’s critical that any person who might think they have a case to discuss these issues with an experienced whistleblower lawyer.
- If Whistleblowers Report Fraud, Are They Protected from Retaliation?
If a whistleblower faces retaliation relating to efforts to expose a fraud on the government, the whistleblower may bring a claim for retaliation under the False Claims Act along with the qui tam claim on behalf of the government. Any damages recovered in the retaliation claim, which could include double back pay, interest, costs and attorneys’ fees, belong solely to the whistleblower and are not shared with the government. Whistleblowers also may have rights under the laws of whatever state they are in which also protect against retaliation.