Since 2007, the State of New York has allowed whistleblowers to use the state’s False Claims Act to sue on behalf of the state, in what is known as a qui tam suit, when they identify Medicaid fraud or contractors who have overbilled the state for goods and services. This month, Governor David A. Paterson [...]

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released the report yesterday “Whistleblower Protection: Sustained Management Attention Needed to Address Long-Standing Program Weaknesses,” which emphasized the essential role that workplace whistleblowers play in the enforcement of federal laws, and expressed a sober concern that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which is responsible for investigating and [...]

The passage of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in late July of this year includes a robust strengthening of the protections already given to workplace whistleblowers under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). In an effort to rein in the rampant financial misconduct that contributed in part to the 2008 financial [...]

In an effort to curb financial misconduct in the wake of the 2008 recession, the recent Dodd-Frank act strengthened the whistleblower protection measures of Sarbanes-Oxley Act by providing incentives to informants who step forward and speak up. According to the act, informants who provide “original information” to the Securities and Exchange Commission can be awarded [...]