By Admin | Published February 28, 2014 | Posted in Employee Rights | Tagged Tags: Espionage Act | Leave a comment
For Many Whistleblowers, No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth;not going all the way, and not starting. – Buddha Gregory Hicks bravely testified before Congress about the 9/11 attacks on the American diplomatic facility in Benghazi, Libya. He claimed that he was punished for stating that President Obama’s administration’s response the night of Read More
Read MoreIs Edward Snowden a Whistleblower?
The Federation of German Scientists (VDW), the International Association of Lawyers against Nuclear Arms (IALANA) and Transparency International bestowed the German Whistleblower Prize upon Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor who leaked information about the NSA’s surveillance of internet and phone activity. A Quinnipiac University national poll, conducted shortly after Snowden obtained Read More
Read MoreWhistleblowers Are Being Locked Out of the IRS
Except for the booming payout of $104 million to UBS whistleblower Bradley Birkenfeld, most of the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Whistleblower Program‘s claims have not elicited any rewards. Senate Finance Committee Senior Member Charles Grassley insists there are numerous whistleblowers with good claims, but few are finding success at the IRS. At an Read More
Read MoreNew OSHA Rules Coming in 2015
By taking a look at the Unified Regulatory Agenda for Fall 2014, one can see that there are various plans for OSHA and other federal agencies to institute some new guidelines heading into the New Year. OSHA in particular is expected to add three rules in 2015 that will address several items: Injury and Read More
Read MoreSEC’s Whistleblower Program Is Waiting to Blow a Big Payout
Stephen Cohen, associate director of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Office of the Whistleblower, spent the early part of the summer blowing his commission’s whistle and promising big awards on the horizon. However, in its first three years, the SEC has made only two awards. In the first, the whistleblower received $50,000, 30 Read More
Read MoreNational Defense Contractors’ Employees Now Have a Whistle
The 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), effective July 1, 2013, now offers employees of subcontractors with defense contracts the protection of the federal whistleblowing laws. Before the new law, subcontractors could only take their complaints of fraud or government waste to their bosses and not to a government office. Enhancing whistleblower protection for subcontractor Read More
Read MoreWhistleblowers Can Whistle Irish Tunes
Ireland’s minister for public expenditure and reform, Brendan Howlin, recently published the Protected Disclosures Bill, 2013, described as an important measure in the battle against corruption. Howlin said that lawmakers want to provide genuine employment and other protections to workers who were penalized or suffered harm for disclosing wrongdoing. Irish whistleblowing wrongdoing The new Irish Read More
Read MoreCourts Conducting the Whistleblowing
Whistleblowing is prevalent in the news. Edward Snowden and Bradley Manning captured our attention. As more claims emerge from workplaces, additional whistleblowing lawsuits are challenging the courts to define and interpret the many relevant laws. Asadi v. GE Energy (USA) Khaled Asadi raised concerns through GE Energy’s internal channels about the company engaging in bribery Read More
Read MoreWhistleblowing to the Tune of $6 Million
In early July 2013, Baxano Surgical Inc., formerly known as TranS1 Inc., agreed to pay $6 million to settle charges that it encouraged doctors to overcharge Medicare and other federal health programs and paid kickbacks to doctors. Baxano did not admit to wrongdoing as part of the settlement. The charges Facing three charges, Baxano agreed Read More
Read MoreWhistleblowing in Malta
Malta’s Parliament approved the country’s long-awaited Whistleblower Act. Effective September 15, 2013, the act provides varying programs of protection for individuals blowing the whistle on corrupt practices. The passage of the whistleblower act was the culmination of more than six years of legislative effort. Providing a new identity to the whistleblower Malta’s whistleblower act outlines Read More
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