By Admin | Published January 12, 2015 | Posted in Employee Rights | Tagged Tags: Dodd-Frank Act, SOX complaint, whistleblower cases | Leave a comment
Consumer Financial Product Whistleblower Claims on the Rise
Since the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was enacted in 2010, there has been a significant rise in complaints filed under the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA), with a corresponding drop of SOX complaints filed through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The total amount of whistleblower complaints has been on Read More
Read MoreJudge Will Allow Dow Whistleblower to File Wrongful Termination Suit
A federal judge is allowing an ex-fraud investigator for Dow Chemical Co. to pursue a wrongful termination claim. Kimberly Wood, who had worked for 25 years at Dow before the company fired her in October, alleges that the company was engaged in significant financial misconduct, specifically major spending by the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Read More
Read MoreWhen Do Reports Not Constitute Whistleblower Actions?
Not all reports of internal wrongdoing are technically considered whistleblower actions. In 2013, the First Circuit Court established an important “job duties” exception related to the Maine Whistleblowers Protection Act. The exception states that employee’s reports are not considered whistleblowing if making such internal reports of wrongdoing is part of the employee’s job. Since the Read More
Read MoreBank of America Whistleblower Wins $57 Million Decision
In what is being considered a record, landmark case, a former bank executive at Countrywide Financial (now owned by Bank of America Corporation) was awarded $57 million for exposing the presence of fraud in the company’s mortgage practices. Edward O’Donnell initially filed a whistleblower lawsuit against Countrywide, accusing the company of defrauding mortgage finance Read More
Read MoreWhistleblower Awarded $175 Million in Trinity Industries Lawsuit
A federal jury determined that Trinity Industries, a Texas-based guardrail manufacturer, must pay $175 million in penalties after a whistleblower alerted authorities to False Claims Act violations by the company. Trinity manufactures many of the guardrails that you see as you drive on highways and roads across the nation. Josh Harman, the whistleblower in the Read More
Read MoreFormer St. Petersburg VA Attorney Files Whistleblower Suit
Javier Soto was at one point a Ratings Benefits Services Representative for the St. Petersburg region office of the Department of Veterans Affairs. However, after he released a report that spoke to the “poor, inept and inaccurate” process of quality control for benefits claims at the VA, he was released from his duties. Now, Read More
Read MoreStudy Shows Companies Face Larger Penalties When Whistleblowers Involved
A recently published study indicates that companies face much larger monetary penalties whenever a whistleblower is involved in enforcement actions against the company. In an average case, those companies paid penalties that were 63 percent higher with whistleblowers than in cases where there was no whistleblower. Data for the study came from information from the Read More
Read MoreSenators Present New Whistleblower Law for Auto Industry
Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla) recently presented a new piece of legislation that will protect the rights of whistleblowers within the auto industry, and offer them the potential to be paid millions of dollars in rewards for particular types of cases. The new bill would give the secretary of transportation the Read More
Read MoreWhistleblower Takes Next Step in Lawsuit Against Philadelphia School District
Four years ago, Francis X. Dougherty was fired after revealing the existence of a $7.5 million no-bid security camera contract within the Philadelphia School District. Now, he has won a major victory in his whistleblower lawsuit against the district, with the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that he was exercising his first amendment Read More
Read MoreNLRB Reverses Precedent in Case Involving Employer Email
In a landmark ruling, the National Labor Relations Board determined that workers have the right to use their company email for non-business purposes. These purposes could include communicating about union events and organization. This ruling was a direct contradiction and reversal to the NLRB’s 2007 Register Guard ruling and even referenced that ruling, calling it Read More
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