Whistleblower News From The Inside — March 30, 2016

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team

Detroit’s schools crumbled while officials allegedly took bribes — The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan has filed a complaint charging Detroit school officials with taking almost $1 million in bribes and kickbacks from a contractor that was supposed to fix the ailing schools.  Washington Post

S.E.C. backs Vanguard whistleblower — The Securities & Exchange Commission filed court papers arguing that a former Vanguard lawyer should receive whistleblower protections for reporting concerns about tax practices at the mutual fund giant.  Wall Street Journal

Ag-Gag laws weaken trust in farmers — A recent study found that laws designed to prevent the documentation of farming conditions – laws ostensibly passed to protect farmers — have instead resulted in a public distrust of farmers.  Modern Farmer

Whistleblower accuses Novartis of $85 million bribery scheme — The pharmaceutical company confirmed it is investigating allegations that it used a consulting firm in Turkey to bribe officials in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.  Reuters

OSHA schedules whistleblower protection meeting — The Whistleblower Protection Advisory Committee will meet on April 25-26 in Washington DC at the Department of Labor; the meetings are open to the public and comments may be submitted in advance.  Facility Executive