Whistleblower News From The Inside - March 25, 2015

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team

SCOTUS rules that opinions may be basis for securities fraud suits — Justice Elena Kagan wrote for the 7-justice majority in the Omnicare case that statements of opinion in securities filings are untrue only if they are not sincerely held but they may nonetheless be unlawfully misleading if they fail to disclose conflicting information. NYT

Maryland Senate passes expanded whistleblower legislation — The Maryland False Claims Act of 2015 would widen Maryland’s current false claims protections beyond its current limitations covering only healthcare fraud. Post-Examiner

OSHA fines New York MTA for harassing whistleblower — OSHA orders the transit authority to pay $50,500 to an employee who was retaliated against for speaking openly to health and safety inspectors. Crains

Michigan hospital to pay $4.5M to settle False Claims Act charges — The settlement resolves allegations that Portage Hospital’s Portage Health Home Care & Hospice submitted false claims to Medicare for unnecessary home health care services rendered by a staff physical therapist. DOJ

Former NJ housing authority manager files whistleblower retaliation action — Melody N. Villaneuva-Arroyo, the former procurement and contract manager for the Passaic Housing Authority, claims she was fired for objecting to a repair contract awarded to a construction company owned by former city councilman Wayne Alston. NJ.com

MTU America to pay $1.1M to resolve alleged environmental violations — The Rolls-Royce Power Systems subsidiary was charged with violating the Clean Air Act by selling 895 non-road, heavy-duty diesel engines without valid certificates of conformity with emission standards. DOJ