Many times, we only learn about corruption and fraud because a whistleblower was brave enough to come forward. Whistleblowers often put their careers and reputation at risk because they believe in standing up for what’s right. There are federal, state, and local laws that encourage people to speak out and provide certain protections. One such...

On December 15, 2021, US District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk of the Northern District of Texas ordered that CMS was prohibited from enforcing its vaccine mandate "within the State of Texas." Also on December 15, 2021, the Fifth Circuit ruled that the CMS mandate injunction would only continue in the 14 states directly involved in...

Executive Order 14043 (September 9, 2021) Requiring Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination for Federal Employees State of Oklahoma and Air National Guard Members v. Biden. On December 2, Oklahoma filed suit in the Western District of Oklahoma to enjoin the mandate on federal employees (and military members). No federal court has enjoined this executive order as...

Following a scathing opinion by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit striking down the OSHA COVID-19 mandate nationwide in BST Holdings, LLC v. OSHA, all OSHA-related COVID-19 litigation was assigned to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit by the Judicial Conference of the United States. Going forward, all cases challenging the OSHA COVID-19...

Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen is accusing her former company of "tearing our societies apart" in an interview with CBS' 60 Minutes. "The version of Facebook that exists today is tearing our societies apart and causing ethnic violence around the world," Haugen told 60 Minutes. She accused the social media giant of placing profit above the...

Timing of a Claim of Religious Exemption Wait until the mandate is announced before claiming an exemption. A premature claim could put a target on your back unnecessarily. Also, if you wait until the policy is announced, you will have additional information about what the standard will be to approve REs. Look to see if there is...

Tarrant County’s John Peter Smith Hospital (JPS) agreed to pay more than $3.3 million to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by upcoding certain claims submitted to federal healthcare programs, Acting U.S. Attorney Prerak Shah announced last month. The settlement resolves a whistleblower suit filed in 2018 by JPS’s former Director of...

On August 24, 2021, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III issued a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all members of the Armed Forces under DoD authority on active duty or in the Ready Reserve, including the National Guard. As stated in the Secretary of Defense's memorandum, the DoD vaccine mandate "will only use COVID-19 vaccines...

Our whistleblower plaintiff attorneys explain how the legal process works Violations of the False Claims Act cost taxpayers billions of dollars each year. This is why private individuals, or whistleblowers, who report fraudulent spending of governing funding serve such a valuable role in our society. Each year, the federal Government recovers billions of dollars in...

Whistleblower plaintiff attorney explains how the legal process works An appeals court recently upheld a lower court ruling against IberiaBank, which previously agreed to pay an $11.6 million fine to resolve allegations of violating the False Claims Act by falsely claiming they were complying with federal mortgage loan requirements, according to a recent court decision...

If you're forced to get vaccinated without your consent, it can infringe on your personal, moral, and/or religious beliefs. It also violates your constitutional rights. Recently, colleges and universities in Virginia have implemented mandatory COVID-19 vaccination requirements for the thousands of students planning to return to campus this fall. In response, letters were sent from...

Fraud and corruption are too common in business and government. Rare is the person who will stand up against the powers-that-be when they engage in illegal activities, but one whistleblower program may be a victim of its own success. What happened? Whistleblower cashes in A big payout is causing big problems for the Commodity Futures...

Healthcare fraud costs an already overburdened medical system far too much. Whistleblowers, though, can play an important role in reducing wasteful spending and other consequences of illegal acts. A recent case demonstrates how. False claims Thanks to a whistleblower, Acting U.S. Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell’s office recently announced that the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary...

A qui tam case is a type of lawsuit brought under the False Claims Act (FCA). The person or entity who brings a qui tam lawsuit is called a “relator.” Relators are sometimes called “whistleblowers.” In a qui tam procedure, the relator initiates the action on behalf of the government and himself. If a relator successfully brings a...

Public corporations must comply with a wide range of rules and regulations. This is especially true when dealing with the issuing or sale of securities to raise capital for a business. In most cases, federal securities laws under the jurisdiction of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) apply. However, each state also has its own...