It is well known that blowing the whistle on fraud, waste, or corruption is risky. However, the good that can come from the actions taken by employees who are brave enough to step forward and bring their employers’ misdeeds into the light is tremendous. Some laws protect whistleblowers, and if you are considering blowing the whistle on your employer, it is wise to educate yourself about whistleblower protection ahead of time.

For example, you must understand the concept of “protected activity” before you make any report. To be eligible for compensation for any retaliation that you might experience after you make a report, you must make your report correctly. The reporting or other activities that you did to expose or respond to your employer’s conduct must fall within the definition of a “protected activity” that is contained in one or more whistleblower protection laws. Reporting is one activity that is protected, provided that you have a reasonable belief that the conduct you are reporting violates the law. It is critical that you know that protection often extends to internal reports and complaints to management or supervisors as well as reports to external agencies. Refusing to violate the law and refusing to work in an unsafe environment are other examples of protected activities.

Blowing the whistle is not a matter to be undertaken spontaneously. Careful preparation before you make a report is critical. To make your report as credible as possible, gather evidence that will support the allegations you plan to make. Documents and photos may be accessible to you, and these can help support your claims. However, do not copy any documents or pictures unless you are sure that doing so does not violate your employer’s code of conduct. Personal notes, meeting minutes, and journals can also support your claim. Use caution when gathering evidence of conversations, as recording conversations is not always legal. If you find that you can legally record conversations that you are involved in, know that audio evidence discussing plans to violate the law has proven valuable in many whistleblower cases.

If you’re thinking about blowing the whistle, plan your steps carefully before you take action. You might be able to make an anonymous report under one or more whistleblower programs, such as the whistleblower program that is operated by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). If anonymous reporting is available to you, you might want to take that avenue to decrease the possibility that you will experience retaliation. Unfortunately, not all conduct that needs to be reported can be reported anonymously. If anonymous reporting is not available in your particular situation, you may have to boldly move forward and take your concern through whatever process is available to you, even if that means disclosing your identity while doing so.

Careful preparation is key to a successful whistleblower claim. Study the applicable laws and gather the information that will help you as you move forward with making your report. If you have questions, a whistleblower protection attorney is a valuable resource who may be able to help you find the answers. To learn more about whistleblower protection, call the Mississippi Whistleblower Attorneys of Barrett Law PLLC today at 1 (601) 790-1505 for an initial consultation.

Thirteen years after a Mississippi hospital’s former chief operating officer filed a whistleblower lawsuit, a jury has finally returned a verdict. The lawsuit alleged that the hospital’s owner, his wife, and another individual were receiving fraudulent payments from the Medicaid program. However, the jury verdict is not the final event in the proceedings that will put money back into Medicaid’s pocket as well as the pocket of the whistleblower, who has waited a long time to collect his reward.

The jury found that Ted Cain, the owner of Stone County Hospital, cheated Medicare out of nearly eleven million dollars. That same jury found that Cain’s wife Julie had improperly collected just under ten and a half million dollars in Medicare payments. Tommy Kuluz, who served as CEO of Stone County Hospital, was found to have received just under ten million dollars in fraudulent Medicaid payments. The jury also found the hospital and a management company liable for damages.

In addition to recovering Medicaid funds, the lawsuit will involve the collection of damages and fees. The exact amount of damages and fees is unclear at this time because the judge must still hear arguments on the issue of whether to award triple damages. Triple damages are an available remedy provided by the federal whistleblower law under which the case was filed. Under the federal whistleblower law, the man who filed the lawsuit will be paid a reward that is somewhere between fifteen and twenty-five percent of the damages collected in this case.

James Aldridge had only been on the job as the chief operating officer of Stone County Hospital for two months before he filed the lawsuit. The investigation into his claim took over eight years to complete, and it took several more years for prosecutors to bring the case to trial. Some whistleblower cases have a criminal component to them, but this case does not. The aim of this lawsuit is to return money to the Medicaid program and collect the damages and fines assessed by the court.

Tommy Kuluz completed eleven of the twelve Medicare cost reports that were submitted between 2004 and 2015 to reimburse the Cains’ pay. During the trial, jurors learned that at one point, Ted Cain was earning more than a thousand dollars an hour. He and his wife are proud of the millions of dollars’ worth of investments they made in the hospital. Some of those investments came from their pockets and some which were funded by loan guarantees. However, Ted Cain is unable to produce much documentation of exactly what work he did to earn over fifteen million dollars as the CEO of the hospital. Julie Cain worked as the hospital’s administrator during that same time, earning just under two and a half million dollars even though she was not often present at the hospital.

One of the attorneys for the Cains says his clients plan to appeal the case, which he claims was brought by an unhappy former employee. Aldridge’s attorney says that this case is a powerful example of what jury trials can accomplish, restoring payments to a federal program after the program was cheated out of millions of dollars. 

When individuals defraud federally funded programs like Medicaid, courageous individuals like James Aldridge can help those programs and the people they serve to get their money back. The Mississippi Whistleblower Protection Attorneys of Barrett Law PLLC support whistleblowers in their efforts to expose every type of fraud. Call us today, at 1 (601) 790-1505, to arrange an initial consultation with the Mississippi Whistleblower attorneys of Barrett Law PLLC.

Many whistleblowers continue to work for their employers for as long as possible after they make an internal or external whistleblower report. Losing a job is hard, and the employees who are whistleblowers make reports because they want their employer to stop wrong conduct, not because they don’t want to continue working for them. Sometimes, whistleblowers can continue working for their employers without experiencing any adversity within their workplace. However, many whistleblowers experience retaliation after they make one or more reports. Whether you are currently experiencing retaliation of you fear that you may soon encounter hostility at work, the following three suggestions can help you stay strong as you navigate your job and workplace for as long as you possibly can.

If you do experience retaliation after you blow the whistle, you must act quickly to preserve your rights. Time matters in whistleblower protection cases and each whistleblower protection law contains a statute of limitations, or a time limit, within which you must file a claim for your claim to be valid. Each law has a unique statute of limitations, and some of them are as short as thirty days from the time the retaliation occurred.

Even before you make your report and certainly after you do so, do not give your employer any legitimate reason to fire you. Not only will you have no job if you get fired, but your termination could also serve to discredit your report if you were terminated for a good cause. It can be challenging to remain polite and calm in the face of retaliation, but it is critical that you get whatever personal support you need to do so. Be sure to take good care of your physical and mental health, talk with supportive family and friends, and seek counseling if need be. Do not confide in coworkers, even if they are your friends, and refrain from gossip of any type. If your employer asks you to cooperate in an investigation, do so without hesitation. Hold your head high, and continue to do your best work in fulfilling all of your duties and responsibilities.

Many whistleblowers feel so uncomfortable at work after they experience retaliation that they consider leaving their jobs. Quitting your job is never something to be undertaken impulsively, even if you are under intense scrutiny and facing retaliation at work. Some whistleblowers do need to leave their jobs to preserve their health or their safety regardless of the consequences. However, it is critical that you think through the possible impacts of resignation on any claims you might have for retaliation, your career options, and your ability to aid in any investigations that are being pursued against your employer.

Remaining at your job after you blow the whistle can be extremely difficult. If you have attempted to bring concerns to the attention of management and you have experienced retaliation after reporting a concern, we may be able to help you. To learn more, call the Mississippi Whistleblower Attorney at Barrett Law PLLC today at 1 (601) 790-1505 to set up an initial consultation.

An employee of the United States Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has filed a complaint against the agency, alleging that the Bureau is allowing illegal activities to occur on federal public lands in Nevada. Dan Patterson, a BLM employee, was suspended after making the complaint, which describes what he believes to be multiple violations of the law.

Patterson says that he spent two years trying to voice his concerns to his supervisors at the BLM. He filed his complaint when it became clear to him that his supervisors were not listening to what he had been trying to tell them. Dan Patterson provides valuable insight into the hearts and minds of whistleblowers. He explains that public employees are not likely to make a whistleblower complaint until they have put significant effort into pursuing their concerns with those who are in a position to address them and have come up empty-handed.

Some of the activities described by Patterson in his complaint are being carried out by mining and resource extraction companies. For example, a mining company was allowed to deviate from the operating procedures that are prescribed by law. The mining company applied for and received a permit to make a toxic pit lake. The standard procedure would have required the company to use a less hazardous method to perform the same function, albeit at a higher cost.

Other instances of misuse of public lands that Patterson alleges in his complaint apply to individuals or groups of people. For example, five prominent individuals who refer to themselves as “the five jokers” hold a mining claim on public lands. There are no mining or exploration activities taking place on the property, but there are vacation homes. Patterson says that the law limits what a person may do on land held as a mining claim and that developing the area as a vacation property does not fit within the activities that are allowed.

Dan Patterson is aware of other instances of misuse taking place on public lands. He is unable to access the emails, documents, and other information that he would have to provide to support those additional allegations. Patterson says that his inability to obtain those materials is part of a larger scheme that is at work within the BLM, where the agency encourages its employees to engage in telephone conversations instead of email conversations to prevent employees from keeping records of their discussions.

The nature of the structure and staffing of many agencies like the BLM adds to the difficulty agency employees often encounter when trying to approach agency management with their concerns. The BLM does not have a permanent director. Many positions within the BLM and other agencies within the Department of the Interior are filled with political appointees. The BLM has been around for a long time, but it is currently experiencing more political pressure than it has at any other time in the past.

Dan Patterson was suspended after he tried to speak with management about his concerns and eventually made a whistleblower complaint against his employer. If you have attempted to bring concerns to the attention of management and you have experienced retaliation after reporting a concern, we may be able to help you. To learn more, call the Mississippi Whistleblower Attorney at Barrett Law PLLC today at 1 (601) 790-1505 to set up an initial consultation.

The management teams of large companies like Columbia Gas of Massachusetts do not see every detail of the day to day operations of their companies. Fortunately, those companies have thousands of employees who are working for them every day who see every detail of their work. Those employees are a valuable source of information that managers can access to assess the performance of their company in many areas, including safety. Unfortunately, many safety complaints are not addressed by the management teams that receive them. Sometimes, the consequences remain within the company, with workers getting hurt or killed on the job. At other times, the unsafe conditions that come to the attention of workers that report them to management go on to cause disasters that hurt and kill many people and destroy large amounts of property.

In September 2018, a series of explosions and fires occurred in the Merrimack Valley as the result of excess pressure within Columbia Gas’s natural gas lines. One person died, twenty-five people were injured, and thousands of residents had to evacuate their homes. Officials entered each home and business to ensure that the gas supply was shut off and that there was no gas trapped inside the building. Gas and electric service remained shut off as the displaced residents waited to be allowed back into their homes. After several days, all area residents were back in their homes, and electric service had been restored. The restoration of gas service to the area required extensive work on the pipeline, which was completed several months after the disaster. During the time that gas service was unavailable, residents had to employ temporary solutions like cooking on hot plates, heating with electric space heaters, and going without hot water.

A few months before the explosion, an employee of Columbia Gas repeatedly warned the managers of the company that the company did not have enough employees to provide safe, reliable natural gas service within the company’s service area. The employee worked in the metering and monitoring department. As staff numbers in his department were cut, he realized that the company did not have enough human resources to adequately monitor the gas pressure in the pipelines throughout its service area. Bart Madeiros retired after his repeated attempts to have his safety concerns addressed went ignored. His testimony was critical in the recent federal case against his former employer.

Columbia Gas Company recently pled guilty to federal charges alleging that the company violated federal pipeline safety laws. Investigators report that the company not only failed to protect the safety of the public, but it also acted with disregard for public safety. Columbia’s company will sell its business in Massachusetts and pay fines of over fifty million dollars. Columbia is also subject to a separate settlement under which it must pay eighty million dollars to individuals who experienced loss and damage because of the explosion and the municipalities whose infrastructure was damaged by the explosion.

Conscientious employees like Bart Madeiros are powerful allies to companies who want to prevent accidents and catastrophes. The Mississippi Whistleblower Protection Attorneys of Barrett Law PLLC support whistleblowers in their efforts to expose safety concerns, fraud, waste, and corruption. Call us today, at 1 (601) 790-1505 to arrange an initial consultation with the Mississippi Whistleblower Attorneys of Barrett Law PLLC.

Money laundering has been going on for over two thousand years, and many people are unaware of how much money is laundered on a worldwide basis every year. It is estimated that between eight hundred billion and two trillion dollars of cash annually are received illegally and passed through legal businesses to make those dollars “clean.” The intention behind money laundering schemes, which are often complicated financial transactions, is to hide money obtained illegally from law enforcement officials. If a criminal obtains money unlawfully and then they spend the money without laundering it; there is a possibility that law enforcement officials will be able to connect the person who received the money illegally with the crime of obtaining the money illegally.

Money laundering is a crime in the United States, and there are both state and federal anti-money laundering laws. Other countries also have laws against money laundering, but in some places, it is easier to launder money and not get caught. Money laundering schemes are often complicated, and some money laundering schemes funnel money into international transactions involving either businesses or financial institutions. Modern money laundering often incorporates the electronic handling of funds, which can make catching money launderers even more difficult.

There is a bill before the United States Congress called Senate Bill 2563, or, “The Illicit Cash Act.” The bill would give law enforcement officials more tools to fight back against money laundering, which is often connected with criminal activity like human trafficking, drug dealing, and terrorism. While anti-money laundering laws do currently exist, supporters of the bill say it is time for those laws to be updated and strengthened.

One of the ways the Illicit Cash Act could help officials increase enforcement of money laundering laws is by offering a monetary reward to individuals who supply officials with information that leads to the successful prosecution of money launderers. Similar financial reward provisions exist in the Internal Revenue Act, the SEC Act, and other anti-fraud whistleblower laws. The basis for all of these whistleblower laws is the False Claims Act, which was introduced by Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War and updated in 1986. The False Claims Act and the rules that were inspired by it provide a means by which ordinary citizens can report violations of the law to the government officials who can enforce those laws and receive compensation for their role in bringing criminals to justice. The payment for whistleblowers under the False Claims Act and similar laws is a portion of the fines and other financial penalties that are collected from individuals who are convicted of wrongdoing.

As is the case with other whistleblower laws, the Illicit Cash Act, if passed, contains provisions that would protect whistleblowers from retaliation. The reason that whistleblower laws have been so successful in identifying and prosecuting illegal activity is that the people who work inside of the organizations where the crimes are occurring can provide reliable information about the illegal things that they witnessed. It was a whistleblower who helped authorities crack the Danske Bank Case, the largest money laundering case in history.

If the Illicit Cash Act passes, officials will gain valuable allies in their fight against money laundering. To learn more about whistleblower protection, call the Mississippi Whistleblower Attorneys of Barrett Law PLLC today at 1 (601) 790-1505 for an initial consultation.

It’s time to do away with the idea that whistleblowers are trouble for their employers. Recent research indicates that whistleblowers provide the management of the firms where they work with information that enables managers to act quickly to address potential issues before they become significant problems. Contrary to what you might think about what happens when an employee uses a whistleblower hotline to report a concern, many managers not only take whistleblower reports seriously, they use the information provided in the reports to address issues that require attention. In many cases, a whistleblower report is the first information a manager receives regarding a potential problem. Whistleblowers help managers to be proactive in identifying and remedying issues that have the potential to turn into bigger problems if left unaddressed.

Firms that have more whistleblower reports report having fewer lawsuits and fewer fines than companies who receive fewer reports. There are a couple of potential reasons behind this outcome. The first is that as was mentioned earlier in this article, whistleblower reports give management valuable opportunities to address potential problems. The second possible reason firms with more whistleblower reports encounter fewer lawsuits than firms with fewer reports is that the number of whistleblower reports received by a company speaks to the corporate culture of the firm. Firms with more reports encourage employees to provide feedback to management and demonstrate that management values the feedback they receive. Conversely, firms who receive fewer reports may have a whistleblower hotline available to employees, but that does not mean that the employees feel comfortable using it or that they feel as though the information they share will be taken seriously.

Managers can move towards creating a corporate culture where employees feel comfortable making whistleblower reports by seeking to use the reports that are received proactively and by refraining from retaliating against employees who make reports. As the number of reports increases, management must ensure that enough staff is available to investigate and respond to the reports ina timely manner. Doing so helps managers receive information in a timely way, and demonstrates that employee feedback is welcome, valued, and taken seriously.

When reports come in, individuals who work to investigate them must not be quick to dismiss reports that contain little information or that provide secondhand rather than first-hand knowledge. Individuals who make whistleblower reports do not always include a great deal of detail in the report. However, when statements are not made anonymously and investigating staff follows up on reports with the people who made them, those individuals often provide much more information than they did in their initial report. Interestingly enough, secondhand information supplied in a whistleblower report is often the only way that employees who are engaging in misconduct like stealing are identified and caught. That is another reason why it is necessary to have staff available to investigate whistleblower reports is adequate to ensure the prompt and thorough review of all complaints received.

Whistleblowers help management run their firms effectively. Unfortunately, not every company has taken a proactive approach to internal whistleblowing. If you have experienced retaliation at work after reporting a concern, a whistleblower protection attorney may be able to help you. To learn more, call the Mississippi Whistleblower Attorneys at Barrett Law PLLC today at 1 (601) 790-1505 to set up an initial consultation.

Keeping the securities industry fair is not easy, which means that the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States (the SEC) has a big job to do. The SEC is an independent federal agency charged with regulating the securities industry and enforcing federal securities laws. It’s no secret that fraud and corruption occur within the securities industry. Investigating instances of possible fraud and corruption within the securities industry and pursuing legal action against individuals and business entities that violate securities laws are the means by which the SEC fulfills its duty to enforce federal securities laws.

Before individuals and companies that violate securities laws can be punished, their wrongdoing must be identified and proven. The SEC depends on whistleblowers from within the securities industry to direct the agency’s attention to potential violations of securities law so that the agency can investigate them. While not every investigation leads to the discovery of an actual breach of securities law, many of them do. Violators of federal securities laws face financial penalties, as well as other penalties, including but not limited to jail time.

In 2010, the SEC instituted its whistleblower incentive program. The program encourages people who work in the securities industry to report possible violations of federal securities laws. Workers who witness securities law violations can submit tips to the SEC anonymously. People who come forward and report potential violations of the law are rewarded for doing so with significant support in protecting their employment and, in cases where violations are found and financial penalties assessed, compensated.

It’s only January, and the SEC has already made two financial awards to whistleblowers this year. The SEC awarded forty-five thousand dollars to an investor who provided information that helped the SEC shut down a fraudulent investment scheme that had harmed them as well as other investors. The SEC was able to recover assets that had been lost by the injured investors and return them. In another action, the SEC awarded over two hundred and seventy thousand dollars to a whistleblower who alerted the agency to an ongoing fraudulent scheme. Upon receiving the information from the whistleblower, the agency was able to shut down the fraudulent scheme that targeted retail investors.

While the total amount of whistleblower claims investigated by the SEC in financial year 2019 was lower than it was in previous years, the agency hopes to regain its momentum this year and continue to increase the number of whistleblower claims it investigates each year. The SEC is grateful to the individuals who provide tips to the agency because time and time again, the whistleblowers save the agency time and money in identifying, investigating, and prosecuting securities law violations. Whistleblowers who make reports to the SEC help the agency enforce the securities laws that protect American investors and sometimes even lead to the recovery and return of lost assets to investors who were harmed by securities law violations.

SEC whistleblowers and whistleblowers in other agencies and industries are protected from retaliation. If you have experienced retaliation as the result of reporting fraud, waste, safety violations, or other concerns, call the Mississippi Whistleblower Attorney of Barrett Law PLLC today at 1 (601) 790-1505 for an initial consultation.

President Trump’s barrage of attacks on the whistleblower who expressed concern over Trump’s telephone conversation with the president of the Ukraine has already had severe consequences for other whistleblowers and would-be whistleblowers. Not only do potential whistleblowers see the president treating a whistleblower with disrespect and disregard, but there is also evidence that other government officials are following suit. Reports from the Pentagon’s office of the Inspector General indicate that managers in government agencies are retaliating against whistleblowers without concern that they will be disciplined for doing so. Would-be whistleblowers report feeling more afraid than ever to speak up. People who work for government agencies also report feeling little confidence that they would be protected if they did speak up.

For example, within the defense department, there has been a trend of the department either disagreeing with the results of investigations conducted by the Inspector General or failing to take action in whistleblower retaliation cases. This trend both suppresses would-be whistleblowers and gives management the notion that retaliation against whistleblowers might be overlooked if it were to happen. This problem is especially frustrating for whistleblower protection advocates because the Pentagon’s office of the inspector general can do little about cases where the department disagrees with the results of their investigation or fails to act on their recommendations.

The severity of the retaliation that has occurred in the Trump whistleblower situation has caused whistleblower protection advocates to urge Congress to enforce and strengthen the laws that are intended to protect whistleblowers. Among the suggestions that have been offered for improvement of whistleblower protection laws are a statutorily enforceable right to anonymity and provisions for filing a lawsuit in court (instead of a board or agency) if privacy is violated.

The high profile nature of the Trump whistleblower situation is affecting all kinds of whistleblowers, and it’s not a good one. Where some whistleblower cases, even high profile ones, have illustrated the value of coming forward to expose corruption, fraud, or waste and the protections offered to the people who do so, that is not what Americans are seeing in the Trump whistleblower situation. They are seeing a whistleblower who exposed a serious issue being poorly treated by a powerful public official who has not yet been held accountable for their words and actions toward the whistleblower.

  Presently, American confidence in federal whistleblower protection laws is declining thanks to the Trump whistleblower situation and a troubling trend within government agencies of letting retaliation against whistleblowers slide by unpunished. Would-be whistleblowers mustn’t cower in the face of the current events in Washington. As long as there are waste, corruption, and fraud, your voice is needed to expose it. The Mississippi Whistleblower Protection Attorneys of Barrett Law PLLC affirm whistleblowers in their efforts to expose fraud,  waste, and corruption. To learn more about whistleblower protection, call us at 1 (601) 790-1505 to arrange an initial consultation with the Mississippi Whistleblower Attorneys of Barrett Law PLLC.

The world of professional athletics is not devoid of corruption. If you consider how much wrongdoing occurs in the various sports leagues and organizations around the world, you can only come to one conclusion – whistleblowers play an integral role in keeping athletic contests of all kinds clean and fair.

A family from Russia had to flee their home and seek refuge in America after they blew the whistle on athletic doping in their homeland. Despite the threats and hardships the family has endured and will likely continue to suffer, they are pleased to learn that an international anti-doping panel has prohibited Russia from competing for four years. This sanction excludes Russia from participating in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, among other things. Vitaly Stepanov says that after numerous threats of punishment and halfhearted attempts at sanctioning the country, an organization has finally moved forward and issued an actual consequence for Russia.

The Stepanovs have been labeled traitors by those in Russia. The family has applied for asylum in the United States and hopes to be able to remain here. Yulia and Vitaly Stepanov do not regret telling the truth about what they saw in Russia. Yulia is an athlete, a distance runner, and Vitaly worked for the Russian Anti-Doping Agency. Together they exposed a state-run doping system in Russia, which the World Anti-Doping Agency has investigated and confirmed. The Stepanovs understood the risks involved in taking a stand against doping, but they chose to move forward despite the harsh criticism that they knew would come along with doing so.

When whistleblowers come forward to expose wrongdoing in athletics like Yulia, and Vitaly Stepanov have done, they score victories for clean athletes everywhere as well as for the integrity of international sporting events like the Olympic Games and other athletic contests and organizations. Numerous problems exist within athletic leagues and organizations, including doping, match-fixing, sexual harassment, and corruption. Sports touch people’s lives in many ways, whether they are athletes, parents of athletes, fans, sponsors, or workers within athletic organizations. Holding athletes and athletic organizations accountable for participating in and promoting clean, safe, fair competition is critical to the good of the sporting world and the good of society.

Many people work within sports organizations, and some of them have access to things the general public is unable to see. Whether it’s the impact of gambling, tax evasion, and questionable accounting practices, or criminal activity that is being ignored or covered up by an athletic organization, your voices are needed to bring those things out into the open so they can be addressed. Sexual harassment and abuse are huge problems in athletics, which is compounded by power imbalances between athletes and the coaches who train them as well as a focus on the bodies of the athletes. Unless whistleblowers expose the inappropriate things that are happening inside of sports, the risk of harm to athletes will persist.

If you have a potential athletic whistleblower claim, a Mississippi whistleblower protection attorney may be able to assist you in pursuing that claim. To learn more, call the Mississippi Whistleblower Attorney at Barrett Law PLLC today at 1 (601) 790-1505. to set up an initial consultation.