Whistleblower Lawsuits

September 22, 2014

SEC Pays Over $30M Whistleblower Award in Securities Fraud Case to Informant Living Abroad

The Securities and Exchange Commission said it expects to pay over $30 million to a whistleblower. This is the largest SEC whistleblower award issued under the whistleblower program, which was established under the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act. The agency is keeping the specifics of the case under wraps. However, the regulator acknowledged that the recipient is someone who lives outside the United States.

Under the program, the SEC may give the whistleblower 10 – 30% of the award collected if the information provided was original and substantial enough that it led to the enforcement action and resulted in sanctions of over $1 million.

To date the SEC has issued awards to approximately 15 informations. This informant is the fourth one located overseas.

August 8, 2014

False Claims Act and Whistleblowers Act: Empowering People to Report Fraud

by Altman & Altman

In 1994 the seven CEOs of the major American tobacco companies testified before Congress that nicotine was not addictive. Two years later, VP for research and development at the Brown & Williamson tobacco company Jeffrey Wigand came forward, and reported that his employer knowingly doctored the nicotine content, adding toxic substances such as ammonia, in its cigarettes to enhance its addictive qualities. National new broke out and tobacco companies were forced to reveal the truth.

Likewise, in our communities examples of courageous people who report fraudulent wrongdoings by businesses and government agencies abound. Recently a New Hampshire resident reported how medical product companies sent her diabetes medication without previous authorization from her doctor. Her report led to the discovery of how the medical companies had been sending medications without doctor authorization to many other people, and submitting unauthorized claims to Medicare. Ultimately, the companies paid $35 million to resolve the allegations.

Our society relies on courageous people to detect and stop businesses and government institutions from violating people’s rights, engaging in corruption, committing fraud, or outright lying. Recognizing the value of these informers in helping maintain a strong democracy, the law encourages citizens to report potential wrongdoings by offering extensive legal protection and a generous compensation. Just last month President Obama signed into law a legislation that expands protection for whistleblowers against retaliation.

Massachusetts offers plenty of legal defenses for citizens who report false claims and other transgressions made by government agencies and private businesses, or at their places of employment. The False Claim Act and the Whistleblowers Act, set forth in the Massachusetts General Laws, defines the types of activities that should be reported and the rewards for those who take action. We would like to provide a brief summary of its contents.
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May 28, 2014

Home Health Company Settles Medicare Fraud Case Brought by Whistleblower for $150 Million

by Altman & Altman

Amedisys, a home heath company that operates in over three dozen states, has agreed to pay $150 million to resolve Medicare Fraud claims brought by a former employee. According to a whistleblower lawsuit, between 2008 and 2010, a number of the company’s offices improperly billed Medicare.

April Brown, a nurse, said Amedisys violated the False Claims Act when it turned in false home healthcare billings to Medicare. She says that the company asked her to bill for services that were not necessary or were never actually provided. She also worked with patients who weren’t actually homebound. Brown and other nurses were purportedly pressured into providing care that benefited the home health care’s financial needs instead of the health needs of patients.

Brown contends that when she questioned what was going on, she was let go from her job. She then became the first person to file a qui tam case against Amedisys. Several other individuals followed and their respective cases were consolidated in federal court.

April 7, 2014

Whistleblowers Get Protections Under Consumer Financial Protection Act with OSHA’s Interim Final Rule

by Altman & Altman

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has put out an interim final rule that tackles complaints of retaliation under the Consumer Financial Protection Act. Under the CFPA, employees are protected against retaliation from entities that provide consumer financial services and products that are mainly for family, household, or personal use, including: certain kinds loans, residential mortgages, modifications to mortgage loans, relief services regarding foreclosure, debt relief, consumer credit, and other goods and services. The interim final rule sets up burdens of proof, procedures, statutes of limitations, and remedies.

At Altman & Altman, LLP, our Massachusetts whistleblower lawyers are here to protect the rights of those who report when a fraud is being committed against a state or the federal government. We are here to help whistleblowers in their attempts to file a successful case while making sure their rights are protected throughout the entire process. Contact our Boston law firm today.

The CFPA protects workers that reports certain types of violations to the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, an employer, or a government entity. The interim rule sets up time frames and processes for how to deal with these retaliation complaints, as well as procedures involving employee complaints to OSHA, OSHA probes, appeals of OSHA decisions, and other matters.

March 21, 2014

Families of Asbestos Workers Awarded $12.5M in Mesothelioma Case

by Altman & Altman

This week, a New York Supreme Court judge jury awarded $12.5 million to the families of several workers who developed cancer after they were exposed to asbestos-containing materials. The victory at the end of the four month trial provides a sense of relief to the family of three New York tradesmen after watching their loved ones lose their battle the notoriously brutal disease. Though asbestos is carefully monitored and outlawed now, not much was known about the dangerous material commonly used for fireproofing and insulation when it was widely used until it was banned in 1989.

Since then, numerous studies have been conducted to determine the correlation between exposure to asbestos-containing materials and the rare cancer known as Mesothelioma. A study about early detection of the illness published in PLoS One, a respected science journal, states that, “…mesothelioma is an aggressive, asbestos-related pulmonary cancer that is increasing in incidence. Because diagnosis is difficult and the disease is relatively rare, most patients present at a clinically advanced stage where possibility of cure is minimal.” The disease has a vicious reputation as being extremely painful and difficult to treat. Because the illness attacks the lungs, air flow is disrupted and the patient is most often reduced to the confines of his or her bedroom as loved ones look on helplessly.
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March 19, 2014

Hospital to Pay $85M to Partially Settle Whistleblower Case Over Medicare Fraud

by Altman & Altman

Halifax Health has reached a tentative deal to pay $85 million dollars as part of a federal whistleblower case accusing the hospital of Medicare fraud and paying kickbacks to neurosurgeons and doctors. The lawsuit is .S. et al. v. Halifax Hospital Medical Center et al and was filed by hospital employee Elin Baklid-Kunz.

The deal was reached just as the case was about to go to trial. However, a second part of Baklid-Kunz’s case, accusing Halifax of increasing revenues by admitting patients who could have been discharged to stay overnight, is scheduled for trial this summer. Possible liability for that could reach $400 million.

Baklid-Kunz continues to work at Halifax Health. Previously she worked for years for them in financial and regulatory compliance. Now she is director of physician services. Baklid-Kunz filed her Qui Tam case under the False Claims Act and she is entitled to a percentage of what is recovered. According to the News-Journal Online, Baklid-Kunz and her lawyers will get $20.8 million.

March 13, 2014

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Continues to Prosecute Offenders and Protect the Consumer

by Altman & Altman

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, though perhaps not as immediately recognizable by the public as other key pieces of legislation such as the Sherman Antitrust Act, has been repeatedly proven to play a crucial role in protecting the American public and law-abiding business from corporations engaging in illegal bribery and business practices both in the United States and abroad.

Most recently, Alcoa, the world’s third largest aluminum producer was found to be in violation of the FCPA. The Securities and Exchanges Commission alleged Alcoa, along with AWAC (AWAC is a global bauxite mining and alumina refining enterprise between Alcoa Inc. and Alumina Limited) paid numerous bribes to government officials in the country of Bahrain regarding contract negotiations between Alcoa and a major government-operated aluminum plant, according the official SEC press release. According to the Alcoa website, the New York and Philadelphia-based company employs “approximately 60,000 people in 30 countries around the world.” An SEC investigation uncovered more than $110 million in corrupt payments made to Bahraini officials with connections to a key government-controlled aluminum plant.

As is the case with many FCPA violations, the SEC accused the aluminum producing giant of falsely recording these transactions as “legitimate commissions or sales to a distributor.” As a result of this illegal activity, as well as a civil case brought forth, Alcoa has been fined a total of $384 million. This fine is among the largest imposed by the SEC, with the largest being $800 million paid out Siemens AG in 2008. Kara N. Brockmeyer, chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s FCPA Unit added, “The extractive industries have historically been exposed to a high risk of corruption, and those risks are as real today as when the FCPA was first enacted.”
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March 13, 2014

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: What You Need to Know

by Altman & Altman

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) was enacted by congress to protect the American public and law-abiding companies and prosecute those who engage in illegal bribery and business practices with foreign governments for the purpose of gaining or maintaining business. According to the FCPA Resource Guide, “when business is won or lost based on how much a company is willing to pay in bribes rather than on the quality of its products and services, law-abiding companies are placed at a competitive disadvantage-and consumers lose.”

Cases involving businesses that violate FCPA guidelines are extremely sensitive to the Securities and Exchanges Commission because they are harmful to the free market economy in America. Competition is the cornerstone of capitalism and the SEC aims to level the playing field among businesses and reestablish public confidence in the market with the Act.
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December 18, 2013

Whistleblower Lawsuit: CVS’ Caremark to Pay $4.25M in Pharmaceutical Fraud Case involving Medicaid

by Altman & Altman

To resolve allegations that it purposely did not pay back Medicaid for prescription expenses, CVS’s Caremark will settle the pharmaceutical fraud case with the US and several state governments for $4.25M. The claims were originally brought via a whistleblower lawsuit.

The giant chain is accused of using “Quantum Leap,” a computer system, to disregard when a customer had a third-party payer that could cover a prescription. The processing platform allegedly canceled reimbursement claims turned in by Medicaid for individuals who had this “dual” eligilbity. As a result, Medicaid ended up paying for prescriptions that were the responsibility of other insurers.

Caremark LLC is a pharmacy benefit management (PBM) company that is run by CVS Caremark Corporation. It is the PBM for private health plans that insure individuals with prescription drug benefits under Medicaid and also private plans administered by Caremark.

December 6, 2013

OSHA Launches Online Form for Whistleblower Complaints

by Altman & Altman

OSHA has recently announced the launching of a new program that will allow workers in the United States to file whistleblower complaints online.

The online form will provide workers who have been retaliated against, the additional opportunity to reach out for OSHA assistance.

“The ability of workers to speak out and exercise their rights without fear of retaliation provides the backbone for some of American workers’ most essential protections,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels. “Whistleblower laws protect not only workers, but also the public at large and now workers will have an additional avenue available to file a complaint with OSHA.”

The current system allows workers to file a written complaint or verbal complaint (by calling the agency’s regional office), but now workers will be able to submit complaints electronically. The new form will prompt workers to include basic information so that an OSHA representative can easily follow up with the complainant. The electronic version will be identical to the paper version, and requests the same information necessary to initiate a whistleblower investigation. United States whistleblowers are protected under 22 statutes enforced by OSHA, which serve to protect those employees who report violations of various securities laws, trucking, airline, nuclear power, pipeline, environmental, rail, public transportation, workplace safety and health, and consumer protection laws.

While the addition of this electronic complaint form will undoubtedly serve to increase the ease and ability for people to file complaints, it is most advised for people wishing to file a whistleblower claim to consult with an experienced Whistleblower Attorney to discuss their rights and options before proceeding with filing a complaint.

Whistleblower lawsuits can be very complex. At the law offices of Altman & Altman, our Boston Whistleblower Attorneys have nearly 50 years of experience assisting individuals wishing to bring a whistleblower lawsuit against an entity committing fraud and/or endangering workers.
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