Whistleblower News From The Inside — April 29, 2016

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team

Byram Healthcare and Hollister, Inc. Will Pay $20.9 Million to Settle Kickback Allegations – Hollister Inc., a manufacturer of disposable health care products, and Byram Healthcare Centers Inc., a supplier of medical products, have agreed to pay $11.44 million and $9.37 million, respectively, to resolve allegations regarding  Byram’s receipt of unlawful kickbacks to conduct promotional campaigns referring patients to certain medical products.  Hollister was just one of the manufacturers that paid Byram the kickbacks.  The settlements resolve allegations brought in a whistleblower lawsuit filed by two former employees and one current employees of Coloplast Corp., another manufacturer that paid Byram kickbacks.   DOJ

$24 Billion Hedge Fund Requests Whistleblower Status — Citadel has filed a request with the CFTC for whistleblower status claiming it has uncovered unscrupulous trading on future exchanges beginning in 2013.  Citadel’s claim relates to Igor Oystacher and his Chicago-based firm, 3Red Trading LLC, which the CFTC sued last year for spoofing, an illegal bait-and-switch tactic.  Bloomberg

Lance Armstrong Files Summary Judgment Motion in FCA Case – Lance Armstrong has filed a motion for summary judgment in the FCA lawsuit brought against him by the federal government.  The case alleges Armstrong hid his doping practice and defrauded his sponsor, the U.S. Postal Service.  The government has also filed a motion for partial summary judgment and is seeking triple damages on the $32.27 million that USPS paid of Armstrong’s cycling team between 2000 and 2004.  Reuters

Congressional Subcommittee Holds a Hearing on the False Claims Act – The House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice held a hearing on the False Claims Act on Thursday.  Corporate lobbyists argued for a requirement that corporate whistleblowers report frauds internally before filing qui tam actions and also sought to eliminate or narrow FCA liability for corporations that adopt a gold standard corporate compliance program.  Republican Senator Chuck Grassley submitted testimony arguing against the lobbyists’ proposals.  CCR

TSA Whistleblower Claims He Was Ordered to Profile Somali Imams – Andrew Rhoades, assistant federal security director for the TSA, testified that his supervisors asked him to profile Somali imams and community members at meetings held to address their concerns regarding harassment by and heightened scrutiny from TSA agents.   Rhoades also testified that he was reassigned after being suspected of leaking information to the media.  Another TSA staffer was transferred for filing a sexual harassment complaint against a co-worker.  He described the TSA’s toxic work climate as a “culture of misconduct, retaliation, lack of trust, cover-ups, and the refusal to hold its senior leaders accountable for poor judgment and malfeasance.”   RT

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Passes Bipartisan Act Encouraging Whistleblower Protections — U.S. Senators Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.), the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, announced committee passage of the bipartisan U.S. Department of State Authorization Act of 2017 which, among other things, makes permanent an annual 15 percent withholding requirement on funding for U.S. contributions to international organizations that fail to properly protect individuals from punishment for disclosing allegations of impropriety.  US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations