Jonathan K. Tycko Libel, Slander and Defamation Law Blog on Lawyers.com

Recent Amendments To False Claims Act Benefit Whistleblowers

Thursday, June 11, 2009 by Jonathan K. Tycko

Recent legislative developments will be of great benefit to whistleblowers who bring qui tam lawsuits under the False Claims Act. A company violates the False Claims Act when it requests money from the government, and in support of that request submits false or misleading information. Thus, for example, the False Claims Act covers fraud by government contractors who fail to meet the requirements of their contracts with the government, and also covers Medicare fraud and Medicaid fraud by hospitals, nursing homes, pharmacies, pharmaceutical companies or other healthcare providers. A qui tam whistleblower is typically a person with inside knowledge of the fraud, who brings the information to the attention of the government and – usually with the help of a whistleblower lawyer – files a lawsuit under the False Claims Act to help the government recover money from the corporate wrongdoer.

The False Claims Act is a complicated law, and qui tam attorneys who represent whistleblowers have always have always faced significant challenges in presenting and winning their cases. But in May of 2009, President Obama signed into law the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009, which included the firm major amendments to the False Claims Act in twenty years.

These amendments significantly strengthen the qui tam laws in a number of ways. For example, the amendments make it easier to bring a whistleblower case against a sub-contractor who commits fraud against the government, but who does not have a direct contract with the government. The amendments also provide additional protections to the whistleblowers themselves by strengthening the law’s anti-retaliation provision, which makes it illegal for a company to fire or otherwise retaliate against an employee who blows the whistle on the company’s fraud.

If you have information about a company’s fraud on the government, and are considering bringing a whistleblower case, it may be a good idea to consult with a qui tam law firm with experience in qui tam litigation under the False Claims Act.

Tycko & Zavareei LLP

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FraudFighters.Net

Posted at 14:20 PM

Topic: Libel, Slander and Defamation