Whistleblower Group
This archive page contains posts by the Whistleblower Practice Group. For all Whistleblower pages, please see:
March 10, 2014
The FTC has sent more than $2.4 million in refund checks to just over a hundred consumers harmed by the Premier Precious Metals scheme, which bilked millions of dollars from investors, including many senior citizens. The scheme worked by conning consumers into buying precious metals on credit without clearly disclosing significant costs and risks, including the likelihood that consumers would subsequently have to pay more money or lose their investments. FTCWhistleblower News from the Inside - March 7, 2014
Posted 03/7/14
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
Playboy to pay in largest SOX whistleblower verdict – A jury returned the largest verdict yet under Sarbanes-Oxley's whistleblower provisions on allegations that the company, famous for its pictures of nude women, retaliated against an employee reporting on fraud involving executive bonuses. Chicago Tribune
Women and hedge funds – An in-depth discussion about the dearth of...
March 7, 2014
Ocean shipping companies Sea Star Line and Horizon Lines agreed to pay $1.9M and $1.5M, respectively, to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by fixing the price of government cargo transportation contracts between the continental US and Puerto Rico, the Department of Justice announced today. The allegations were first raised in a qui tam lawsuit filed by former Sea Star Line executive William B. Stallings under the whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act. He will receive a whistleblower award of $512,719. DOJWildLeaks – The Newest Source for Wildlife Whistleblowers
Posted 03/6/14
By Marlene Koury
Wildlife crime is big business – and it’s getting bigger. It is the fourth largest transnational crime in the world, after narcotics, counterfeiting, and human trafficking. And it is worth at least $17 billion a year. The World Wildlife Fund recently said that in 50 years of conservation work, it has never seen wildlife crime on the scale that it exists today.
Wildlife crime includes...
Supreme Court Takes Broad View of Whistleblower Protection
Posted 03/6/14
By Jason Enzler
A Supreme Court decision this week settled a brewing conflict among authorities on who can benefit from the anti-retaliation protections for whistleblowers in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). And the outcome is good for whistleblowers. The Supreme Court ruled that employees of private contractors and subcontractors who provide services to public companies can be protected whistleblowers...
Whistleblower News from the Inside - March 4, 2014
Posted 03/4/14
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
Supreme Court expands protections for SOX whistleblowers – the court ruled that, under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, private contractors, such as outside accountants, auditors and lawyers, cannot be fired or punished for exposing fraud. LA Times
SEC files amicus brief in closely-watched Siemens whistleblower case -- the SEC asserts that whistleblowers who go through an internal...
Whistleblower News from the Inside - February 28, 2014
Posted 02/28/14
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
Sprint loses bid to dismiss NY False Claims Act case – In a suit originally brought by a whistleblower, the New York attorney general’s case against Sprint for nearly $400 million alleging it deliberately failed to pay sales taxes will go forward. Bloomberg
Break-in at whistleblower organization – A recent break-in at the Project on Government Oversight (no sensitive...
Monthly Roundup - February 2014
Posted 02/27/14
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
Here is our look-back at the key whistleblower and fraud developments we have written about over the past month:
Featured Posts and Commentary
Petition to Change the Face of Whistleblowers
Of the thirty synonyms Thesaurus.com and Merriam-Webster provide to describe whistleblower, the vast majority of them are deeply derogatory and paint the whistleblower as dishonest, disloyal...
Companies Warming to Internal Whistleblower Reporting Programs, But Not Doing Enough to Support Them
Posted 02/27/14
By Marlene Koury
A recent report shows that internal whistleblower reporting programs are getting stronger. Companies are continuing to invest in the development of these programs as a way to ferret out fraud and misconduct. And more and more employees are stepping up and reporting misdeeds, providing higher quality tips than ever before. But as concerns are being shared in record numbers, the report also...