A whistleblower is someone who has knowledge of illegal activity who reports that knowledge within the organization, to a government agency, or to the media or who uses that knowledge as the basis of a lawsuit seeking recovery on behalf of a government entity that’s been defrauded. Knowledge of certain activities that involve a risk to public safety can also be a reason to blow the whistle.

 

There are whistleblowers who aren’t current or past employees. They may have learned this information in their role as outside contractors retained to work for the organization. Outside contractors or workers employed by personnel agencies could also learn of this damaging information. But when it comes to legal actions, it’s the current or former employees who are most frequently whistleblowers.

 

Whistleblowers and the types of legal actions they may be involved in

 

There are different types of legal actions involving whistleblowers.

 

  • If an employee reports wrongdoing within the organization, to a government entity or to the press and suffers a negative employment action (demotion, pay cut, firing or lay off), that person may be able to sue for damages because of the retaliation he suffered.
  • A “qui tam” legal action is one in which the whistleblower, using his or her knowledge of the organization, sues on behalf of a government entity that has been defrauded. If the case is successful, the relator (the person filing the lawsuit) is entitled to a share of the recovery.

 

What someone needs to know and how to be a whistleblower

 

There are different federal and state laws pertaining to whistleblowers, and they’re worded and interpreted differently. However, generally, because these cases could possibly result in substantial amounts of money for a relator, courts want to make sure only those who deserve an award can get it.

 

In order to prevent someone from learning about damaging information on the internet or learning from the media and trying to cash in on this type of lawsuit, many whistleblower laws require the relator to have “independent knowledge” or information through “independent analysis.”

 

  • This can be factual information known by the whistleblower but not generally known or available to the public. This could be obtained from the person’s experiences, communications and observations in his or her personal, business or social interactions.
  • The person could also have this information through independent analysis done with others or alone.
  • Information that has been illegally obtained can’t be the basis of a whistleblower claim.

 

Although there’s no requirement for a whistleblower to be an employee, normally knowledge of illegal activities is not something an organization openly brags about or publicizes. They try to keep it a secret for as long as possible to continue to profit from their illegal acts.

 

Employees and ex-employees are often in a position to blow the whistle

 

Examples of employees or former employees who used their knowledge to expose fraud and force companies to return their ill-gotten gains to the taxpayers include the following:

 

  • Three employees exposed a chain of skilled nursing facilities’ corporate policies and practices that encouraged employees to provide unreasonable and unnecessary therapy services, regardless of patients’ actual medical needs. These practices allegedly resulted in millions of dollars of false and excessive Medicare claims, according to a federal lawsuit, which was settled after the chain agreed to pay $10 million.
  • Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. agreed to pay $9.2 million to settle a qui tam legal action concerning allegations that it overbilled the federal government for labor on U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships. The settlement resolved a lawsuit brought by a former employee, under the federal False Claims Act (FCA).
  • Inchcape Shipping Services Holdings Limited and some of its subsidiaries agreed to pay $20 million to settle allegations that they violated the FCA by knowingly over-billing the U.S. Navy under contracts for providing goods and services to Navy ships in port throughout the world. Three former employees were relators in the case.

 

The focus of a qui tam legal action is how the whistleblower obtained the damaging information, not necessarily his or her employment status. Those who work, or used to work, for an organization which is or has broken the law are in the best position to know what’s going on and to take actions to stop it from continuing and force the organization to return money it defrauded from others.

 

If you’re not sure if you have a claim, consult someone who does. A skilled whistleblower lawyer will answer your questions and start the investigation into your whistleblower case.