Whistleblower News From The Inside -- July 24, 2017
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
Wells Fargo Ordered to Rehire Whistleblower and Pay $577,500 in Back Wages — A federal agency has ordered Wells Fargo to give a whistleblower her job back, along with $577,500 in back pay and damages. The whistleblower was working as a branch manager in Pomona, California, when she was fired for reporting misconduct related to the bank’s fake account scandal, according to findings released on Friday by the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Wells Fargo “terminated the employee turned whistleblower in September 2011 because of concerns raised that the bank’s private bankers were opening customer accounts and enrolling customers in bank products without their knowledge, consent or appropriate disclosures,” OSHA said in a press release. CNN
FCA Relators Can’t Self-Represent, 5th Circ. Rules — The Fifth Circuit on Thursday affirmed the dismissal of a False Claims Act suit alleging a theft scheme at a federal prison facility, ruling that because they act on behalf of the government, relators cannot represent themselves in FCA cases. A district court had correctly found that plaintiffs like James Brooks can only represent themselves pro se in cases involving their own interests and must obtain legal representation when acting as a qui tam relator, because FCA cases are ultimately meant for the benefit of the federal government, the three-judge panel ruled in a brief opinion. Law360
US Attorney Creates New Unit to Prosecute Health Care Fraud — The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago is creating a new unit to prosecute health care fraud. Joel Levin is the acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. He says the unit will prosecute people ranging from providers who participate in fraudulent billing schemes to doctors who falsify a patient’s diagnosis so they can be paid for costly procedures or tests the patient doesn’t need. Levin says Medicare and private insurers lose millions of dollars to fraud each year. He says patients also are exploited as they undergo unsafe or unnecessary medical procedures. US News