Whistleblower News From The Inside — January 29, 2016
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
Transparency International releases annual Corruption Perception Index — The index is based on expert opinions of public sector corruption, looking at a range of factors like whether governmental leaders are held to account or go unpunished for corruption, the perceived prevalence of bribery, and whether public institutions respond to citizens’ needs. This year, the United States reached its best ranking ever, at 16th place, with Denmark at the top spot for the second year in a row and North Korea and Somalia tied for last place. CBS
Leahy-Grassley Amendment to protect whistleblowers earns unanimous support in Judiciary Committee — The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved an amendment coauthored by U.S. Senators Patrick Leahy and Chuck Grassley to ensure that companies cannot intimidate whistleblowers by threatening them with lawsuits for trade secret theft. Leahy
UMass med school immune to whistleblower lawsuit — Citing sovereign immunity, a federal appeals court has upheld the dismissal of a whistleblower lawsuit accusing a unit of the University of Massachusetts Medical School of overcharging the U.S. government for Medicaid collection services. Reuters
Whistleblower creating digital pay system — A prominent French whistleblower and Spanish anti-corruption activists who triggered an investigation of a former International Monetary Fund chief announced they are designing a digital payment system aimed at excluding middlemen companies that make money from online purchases. ABC News
GCHQ whistleblower movie recruits Harrison Ford and Anthony Hopkins — In the latest film to cover the activities of whistleblowers and the journalists who report their revelations, Official Secrets will tell the story of Katharine Gun, an officer at the Cheltenham-based government eavesdropping agency, who leaked an email that contained a request by America’s NSA to illegally bug the United Nations offices of six key countries in the run-up to the UN’s vote on whether to authorize the Iraq war. The Guardian