Archive

How to Be a Whistleblower

You know about fraud, waste, abuse, or corruption by an individual or a company. Someone is getting by with cheating -- taking money from the government, taxpayers, or investors, or even harming others, such as patients. You are deeply troubled about it and want the proper authorities to stop it. You are worried whether you will be heard, taken seriously, and protected. You wonder if your information fits within a...

Two Constantine Cannon Clients Featured on 60-Minutes Australia

Two Constantine Cannon clients who blew the whistle on Takata’s exploding airbags, the largest corporate cover-up in the auto industry, were featured on 60-Minutes Australia. The show revealed how Takata made these low-cost airbags to get a jump on competitors, ultimately putting millions of lives at risk and resulting in hundreds of deaths and injuries. Valuing profits over public safety, Takata ignored the...

Constantine Cannon Announces Whistleblower Award in Takata Airbag Crisis Settlement

Constantine Cannon LLP announced yesterday that two of its whistleblower clients will receive more than $1.13 million to settle their claims for whistleblower awards for information they provided to the U.S. government in its criminal case against Takata, the now-bankrupt maker of defective airbags which exploded and claimed the lives of 22 people and set off a worldwide recall of nearly 100 million airbag...

South Korea Orders Major Hyundai, Kia Recall After Whistleblower Report

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team In the first whistleblower case to hit South Korea's auto industry, Kim Gwang-ho, a Hyundai engineer with 26 years at the company, made allegations about 32 problems to local regulators.  In response, South Korea ordered Hyundai Motor Co and affiliate Kia Motors Corp to recall 240,000 vehicles over safety defects flagged by a whistleblower - a sharp slap on the wrist that will...

Takata Pleads Guilty to Airbag Scheme

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team Tokyo-based Takata Corporation, one of the world’s largest suppliers of automotive safety-related equipment, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and was sentenced to pay a total of $1 billion in criminal penalties stemming from the company’s conduct in relation to sales of defective airbag inflators. Two restitution funds will be established with the payout: a $125...

Celebrating Motor Vehicle Safety Whistleblower Act's First Anniversary

By Ari Yampolsky (Published in The Hill) In December 2015, Congress enacted the Motor Vehicle Safety Whistleblower Act, which offers monetary rewards to auto-industry insiders who report serious safety violations. Yet one year later, safety advocates are still waiting to see if federal regulators will make good on Congress’s commitment to give whistleblowers a central role in the agency’s enforcement...

In Their Own Words — Lamprey

-- “The next big auto-safety debacle is not a question of if, but when. . . .  The Motor Vehicle Safety Whistleblower Act gives bold and concerned insiders whose employers refuse to address safety issues the protections and financial incentives they need to stand up for the public good.”

Whistleblower attorney Wayne Lamprey commenting on recent legislation encouraging whistleblowers to reveal problems in the auto...

DOJ Catch Of the Week -- General Motors

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team  This week's Department of Justice "Catch of the Week" goes to General Motors.  Yesterday, the Detroit-based manufacturer of Chevrolet, Pontiac and Saturn brand vehicles, among others, entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with a host of federal regulators to settle criminal and civil charges of failing to disclose a deadly safety defect in its cars relating to the...