An effective tool to combat fraud and corruption is a whistleblower lawsuit.  A whistleblower is a person who comes forward and publicly alleges that an individual, company, or organization has defrauded the United States government or a state government.  Under the False Claims Act, private individuals can file qui tam lawsuits, or whistleblower lawsuits, which will allow the whistleblower to recover losses on the government’s behalf. Various states also have state sponsored false claims acts that prohibit fraud on the state governments that provide for civil enforcement remedies by private citizen whistleblowing.  Types of whistleblower lawsuits include:

  • Corporate whistleblower lawsuits
  • Environmental whistleblower lawsuits
  • Pharmaceutical whistleblower lawsuits
  • IRS whistleblower lawsuits
  • Postal fraud whistleblower lawsuits
  • Contractor and/or construction fraud whistleblower lawsuits
  • Utilities, telecommunications and energy fraud whistleblower lawsuits

Whistleblower Lawsuit Recovery

Since 1986, whistleblower lawsuits have resulted in over $14 billion in

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recovery for the United States, according to the Department of Justice.  Whistleblowers themselves kept more than $2.2 billion from these whistleblower lawsuits.  The qui tam provision of the False Claims Act generally allows for damages of three times the amount the government lost, plus penalties of between $5,500 and $11,000 per false claim (e.g., per false representation made).  Whistleblowers, by statute, are entitled to recover between 15-30% of damages recovered by the government in whistleblower lawsuits. 

Whistleblower Lawsuit Attorneys

Whistleblower lawsuits can be very complex and having a knowledgeable and experienced whistleblower attorney is essential.  If you have knowledge of fraud against the government by an individual, company, corporation or other organization, you do not have to stand idle and worry about whistleblower retaliation.  Rather, you can contact a whistleblower attorney today to discuss your legal options and help guard against retaliation.  An experienced whistleblower lawyer with our firm can help you evaluate whether you have the right to pursue an action under appropriate federal or state law.

Published November 17, 2011 by