Whistleblower News From The Inside — December 1, 2015

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team

Peace Corps whistleblowers claim retaliation for reporting sexual assaults — “More than 500 volunteers have reported experiencing a sexual assault in a little over two years.  CBS News spoke with nearly a dozen who questioned how their recent cases were handled.  They told us they felt criticized and were threatened they would be fired.”  CBS

UK whistleblower claims British American Tobacco paid bribes to derail global anti-smoking treaty supported by the United Nations — “The tobacco giant allegedly made illegal payments to two members and one former member of the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control – a UN-supported anti-smoking treaty.”  RT

Ex-New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver found guilty on all counts — “Silver, who held a seemingly intractable grip on power for decades as one of the most feared politicians in New York State, was found guilty on Monday of federal corruption charges, ending a trial that was the capstone of the government’s efforts to expose the seamy culture of influence-peddling in Albany.”  NYT

GAO reports widespread problems in IRS Whistleblower Program — “The report describes several major barriers that might discourage whistleblowers from coming forward.”  Grassley

Piedmont Pathology to pay $500,000 to settle whistleblower charges — The government and whistleblower charged the North Carolina-based diagnostic anatomic pathology group with violating the False Claims Act by engaging in improper financial relationships with referring physicians.  DOJ (SC)

Regent Management Services to pay $3.2M to settle illegal kickback charges — The government charged the Texas-based chain of skilled nursing facilities with violating the Anti-Kickback Statute by receiving kickbacks from ambulance companies in exchange for rights to Regent’s more lucrative Medicare and Medicaid transport referrals.  DOJ (SDTX)