Whistleblower News From The Inside - February 27, 2015
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
Jon Stewart stands up for whistleblowers – On last night’s Daily Show, Jon Stewart ran a “Blazing Tattles” segment in which he criticized the Obama administration on its treatment of whistleblowers, including the administration’s use of the Espionage Act. The Daily Show
Senate approves auto whistleblower bill — A measure that would offer financial incentives for auto industry employees to expose safety defects won unanimous backing from a Senate panel yesterday. Reuters
GSK bribery scandal led to dramatic increase in whistleblower reports — A 15-month bribery investigation into GlaxoSmithKline by Chinese authorities has led to a dramatic increase in whistleblower reports from the company’s operation in China, receiving 652 whistleblower reports from China last year, a 13-fold increase from the 48 received in 2013. Telegraph
Are companies “muzzling” corporate whistleblowers? — The SEC is probing whether companies are silencing corporate whistleblowers, which, depending on the findings, could lead to suggestions on policy revisions or even formal charges against the companies. WSJ
Europe is “miles behind” the US in whistleblower laws — Despite its flaws, the US has a common law tradition of protecting whistleblowers in addition to multiple statutory proscriptions, whereas the same number of avenues of protection do not exist in Europe. Business Insider
Call from the IRS is fraud – A new scheme is afoot in which criminals call consumers pretending to be agents from the IRS and threatening arrest or legal action, unless the individual makes a payment quickly. NYT
The Daily Show piece illustrates the Business Insider piece on Europe being behind the US.