Whistleblower News From The Inside -- August 10, 2015
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
SEC files amicus brief in support of whistleblower suit by former Bio-Rad GC — In an amicus curiae brief backing plaintiff Sanford Wadler, the agency argues that employees who raise concerns of corporate misdeeds need not go directly to the authorities with their complaints to qualify for whistleblower protection. Wadler, who had served as Bio-Rad’s GC for over 20 years, sued the company in May, claiming he was fired after raising concerns over potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Recorder
Social service worker files whistleblower suit — A Northern Kentucky social service worker has filed a whistleblower lawsuit, claiming he experienced retaliation and harassment from supervisors after he reported problems, including that 93 cases of alleged child abuse or neglect had been misplaced and not investigated for months. Tim Williams, a 14-year employee with the Cabinet for Health and Family Service in its Northern Bluegrass service region, had an exemplary record but began experiencing retaliation — including an abrupt job transfer — immediately after he reported management problems, according to his lawsuit filed Tuesday in Boone Circuit Court. Courier-Journal
Meet the St. Petersburg whistleblower who exposed horrors in Florida prisons — the Tampa Bay Times published an extensive profile of Harold Hempstead, a Florida man who, as described in the article, “didn’t set out to be a hero and, perhaps to some people, he isn’t a hero at all.” As the article states, “it is likely that no one would have ever known about the death of a mentally ill inmate named Darren Rainey, or about the systemic culture of physical and mental abuse of inmates in Florida prisons, had it not been for Hempstead. Hempstead’s steadfast determination to expose the monstrous acts he says he witnessed ultimately brought about an overhaul of the agency, the firings of top corrections officials and officers, federal arrests and an ongoing investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice.” Tampa Bay
Australian Federal Police ramp up corporate bribery investigations — The Australian Federal Police are ramping up their investigations into Australian companies paying bribes to foreign officials, with a “good handful” of prosecutions in the pipeline and several investigations ongoing. Commander Linda Champion, manager of the AFP’s Fraud and Anti-Corruption Centre, has warned companies which have breached the rules on foreign bribery that if they come forward they could forestall more painful investigations. Sydney Morning Herald
Some winners of major marathons suspected of doping –A British newspaper reported Sunday that over a 12-year period one in four winners of the six biggest city marathons around the world ‘‘had given blood tests that suggest they may have doped to improve their performance over time.’’ This finding follows the World Anti-Doping Agency’s creation of a commission to investigate the allegation that files leaked by a whistleblower showed 800 suspicious results in blood samples from 5,000 athletes in the years from 2001-12. Organizers of the London Marathon complained about a lack of transparency and coordination in the handling of anti-doping tests following release of the test results. Boston Globe
South Florida contractor pleads guilty in alleged multimillion-dollar housing scam — An affordable housing contractor accused of secretly diverting millions of dollars in kickbacks to four Miami-based developers pleaded guilty Thursday to stealing federal government subsidies meant to help the poor. Miami Herald