Importance of Whistleblowers

In Defense of Whistleblowers: Poppy Alexander Appears on Law & Disorder Podcast

Constantine Cannon whistleblower attorney Poppy Alexander was interviewed as a featured guest on the Law & Disorder podcast.  In an interview with Heidi Boghosian, Poppy discussed the False Claims Act, including its rewards and protections for whistleblowers.  The FCA allows private persons, known as relators, to bring what are called qui tam lawsuits on the government’s behalf, and claim a share of any recovery...

FDA’s Approval of Alzheimer’s Drug Highlights Need for Whistleblowers

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is supposed to protect American consumers from unscrupulous private actors—charlatans, snake-oil salesmen, and the like—seeking to profit by selling unproven medical “cures,” treatments, and devices to the public.  Emerging during the era of the robber barons as part of Theodore Roosevelt’s efforts to “civilize capitalism,” the FDA has prevented untold harm to...

Not Wanting to Be Left Behind, the UK Introduces Two Bills in Parliament Seeking to Improve UK’s Whistleblower Protections

The European Union is on the cusp of taking a quantum leap in the protection of whistleblowers. Whereas previously only 8 of the 27 member states had national laws protecting whistleblowers, the new EU Whistleblowing Directive (Directive 2019/1937)  requires that all 27 member states transpose into national law sweeping whistleblower protections by the end of this year, creating a blanket of whistleblower protections...

Can the False Claims Act Protect Immigration Detainees from Forced Labor?

By William Greenlaw A recent human rights case raises a novel question of False Claims Act applicability: when private immigration detention facilities defraud the government by forcing individuals into labor. The federal government has a vast regulatory and statutory scheme meant to stop federal contractors from using trafficked labor. But forced labor in detention facilities has historically been overlooked....

This Week in Whistleblower History: 50th Anniversary of the Publication of the “Pentagon Papers,” Leaked by Daniel Ellsberg

This week marks the 50^th Anniversary of the publication by The New York Times, starting on June 13, 1971, of a series of reports on the secret history of the Vietnam War based on thousands of pages of highly classified government documents.  The documents, which became known as the “Pentagon Papers,” were leaked by Daniel Ellsberg, a former U.S. Marine with a Ph.D. in Economics working as a military analyst for...

Auto-safety regulators finally take steps to stand up nation’s only safety-focused whistleblower program, but challenges lie ahead

Back in 2015, the public seethed over the auto industry’s historic failures.  Takata’s air-bag scandal, Toyota’s unintended-acceleration deceptions, and General Motors’s deadly ignition-switch cover-up were in the headlines.  Hundreds died and millions were exposed to grave dangers because of the industry’s propensity to bury known safety defects. In 2015, Congress tried to turn the tide, passing the

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