January 2010
- 1/7/2010, UPDATE 1-SEC review dismisses Putnam whistleblower concerns
(Reuters) "An internal review by the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission found no evidence that the
agency tried to protect mutual fund firm Putnam Investments
from a whistleblower's allegations, a rare pass for the
battered SEC."
- 1/6/2010, Birkenfeld to Serve Prison Sentence in Pennsylvania
(Update1) (Business Week) “To send the biggest tax whistleblower in the
history of the country to
jail is really not the signal you want to send to other
whistleblowers,” Birkenfeld attorney Dean Zerbe, special counsel to the
National Whistleblowers Center, said in a phone interview. “It’s giving
a lot of other whistleblowers pause.”
- 1/6/2010, Whistleblower Web Site Goes Dark, Seeks Funding (Fox
News) "A Web site that for years has let anonymous whistleblowers break
stories of corruption and government malfeasance has gone dark and is
expected to remain offline until it finds funds to support its
operations and fend off lawsuits."
- 1/6/2010, Whistleblower:
Ga. Taxpayers Paid For Pricey Groundbreaking Shovels (WSBTV.com)
"ATLANTA -- With state revenues
collapsing more than a billion dollars in the past year alone, and with
more cuts likely to come, a Channel 2 Action News whistleblower
encouraged us to investigate why the Georgia National Guard spent more
than $4,000 on fancy shovels and hard hats for a groundbreaking
ceremony."
- 1/6/2010, Ex-Morris groundkeeper sues county, says he was forced
to quit, (DailyRecord.com) "A
former groundskeeper for Morris County's division of buildings and
grounds has sued the county, alleging he suffered retaliation and was
forced to quit after he griped that co-workers chatted on cell phones
and sheriff's officers sped around county grounds."
- 1/6/2010, Air
Marshals Would Have Stopped Bomber, Whistleblower Say (HSToday) "A
federal air marshal in the air or on the ground could have stopped
the Christmas Day bombing attempt of Northwest Flight 253, said a
former marshal, who was released from the Federal Air Marshal Service
(FAMS) over his protest of changes in the agency's security plans."
- 1/6/2010,
Whistle-blower trial lawyer to face charges,
Freep.com, "Wilson Copeland II, a private attorney who represented
the city of
Detroit in the 2007 police whistle-blower trial, is scheduled to face
professional misconduct charges this morning for his role in the
scandal-stained case."
- 1/6/2010, UBS whistleblower seeks probe of government lawyers, Reuters,
"The National Whistleblowers Center, representing
former UBS banker Bradley Birkenfeld as he fights the government over
his role in helping a billionaire evade taxes, filed a complaint with
the department's Office of Professional Responsibility, seeking an
internal investigation and correction of the court's records related to
the case."
- 1/5/2010,
Pa. panel upholds Lokuta’s removal, TimesLeader.com,
"Lokuta has maintained she was the victim of a conspiracy orchestrated
by former judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella
to oust her from office because she reported wrongdoing. She contends
many of the witnesses embellished their testimony to please Conahan and
Ciavarella because they were beholden to them for their jobs." - 1/5/2010,
4th Circuit revives whistleblower suit, Star
Tribune, "A fired medical-device salesman can proceed with a
whistleblower claim
against his former employer even though he never completed the
administrative appeals process, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
has held. In a case of first impression for federal appellate courts,
the 4th Circuit said David R. Stone is entitled to de novo review ..."
- 1/5/2010,
Wheaton whistleblower medical suit ends, Star
Tribune, "
'Country doctor' and hospital to pay $846,461 to
settle charges of unnecessary care, although they deny any wrongdoing." - 1/5/2010,
Florida disaster-preparedness official quits, South
Florida, "A top state emergency official resigned Monday in a swirl
of accusations from a whistleblower complaint while denying
wrongdoing."
- 1/4/2010, U.S. considering lesser term for UBS whistleblower:
report, Reuters, "irkenfeld, who is due to start
serving a federal
prison term of three years and four months on Friday, has been hailed
by whistleblower advocates and U.S. prosecutors alike as pivotal to the
case against UBS, his former employer."
- 1/2/2010, Vehicle Seized to Pay Whistleblower's Back Wages, Lawyers
and Settlements.com, "Washington, DC: The Whistleblower
Protection Act, which forbids
retaliation against employees who come forward with a legitimate
concern, has recently come to the aid of a New Jersey whistleblower
who was fired by his employer. The former employee will finally be paid
back wages via the seizure of his former employer's car."
December
2009
- 12/22/2009, Good Science, Bad Politic, The Wall Street
Journal, "What we can now see is a concerted effort to emphasize
scientific
results that are useful to a political agenda by blocking papers in the
purportedly independent review process and skewing the assessments of
the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)."
- 12/21/2009,
St. Joseph Mercy Oakland and Trinity Health pay $205,000
to settle Medicare fraud allegations, Crains Detroit Business, "Novi-based
Trinity Health, and one of its hospitals, St. Joseph Mercy Oakland
Hospital in Pontiac, have paid $205,000 to settle a whistleblower
lawsuit that alleged that St. Joseph Mercy improperly billed Medicare
for medical services, according to U.S. Attorney Terry Berg in Detroit."
- 12/21/2009, California Courts to Whistleblower: 'You're Out of
Order!', POGO, "Paul alleges that private vendors
who provide maintenance services at the courthouses were operating
without
the required licenses and were overcharging for services. When he
reported
his concerns to superiors, however, he claims he was reassigned to "an
irrelevant position with nothing to do" that reports to 'the
same guys I blew the whistle on.'"
- 12/20/2009, INSIDE
WASHINGTON: An anti-whistleblower culture, Associated Press,
"Gayl, 52, is the target of a Naval Criminal Investigative Service
inquiry for allegedly mishandling secret information, according to Tom
Devine, his lawyer. Gayl had accused the Marine Corps of "gross
mismanagement" for failing to answer the call in 2005 for heavy-duty
trucks that could withstand roadside bombs in Iraq."
- 12/20/2009,
Attorney general probing company with connections to Rand,
FayObserver, "Two former executives - President Paul Feldman and
sales director
Martin L. Perry - have filed whistleblower's complaints with federal
regulators."
- 12/19/2009, Silence is the golden rule in city politics, Chicago
Sun Times, "On Thursday, the Sun-Times' Fran Spielman reported that
a new survey
conducted by the city showed city workers aren't too keen on blowing
the whistle when they see misconduct."
- 12/18/2009, Ex-county
employee files whistleblower complaints, NewsSun, "SEBRING
-- As the Department of Environmental Protection's (DEP)
initial investigation into alleged improper disposal of asbestos pipe
draws to a close, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety
& Health Administration (OSHA) begins their look into if the
ex-employee with the county who "blew the whistle" was wrongfully
terminated for letting his superiors know there were health hazards."
- 12/17/2009,
Laid-off whistleblower files complaint, TampaBayonline,
"The Occupational Safety & Health Administration notified Highlands
County on Dec. 9 that Rick Solis was alleging discriminatory employment practices in violation of
the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act, the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act and the Toxic Substance Control Act, and retaliation in
violation of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act and the OSHA
Act."
- 12/15/2009, Sacramento
wihistle-blowers to share U. of Phoenix settlement, Sacramento
Bee, "The University of Phoenix has paid $78.5 million to settle a
whistle-blower lawsuit in Sacramento federal court after two former
employees pressed the case – even when the federal government left it
to them to go it alone."
- 12/11/2009, National
Zoo gets a new director, WTOP.com, The Smithsonian . . . is
currently under fire for losing millions of dollars in
equipment, paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to settle an
asbestos whistleblower suit and for "accountability breakdowns." Read
more about it at Federal News Radio.
- 12/08/2009, Did MTA workers retaliate against whistleblower?, ABC
News, "De los Santos was a key source in the Eyewitness News
ongoing reports
into idle track workers. A year ago, in a wig, behind shadows, he
helped expose millions of dollars in wasted time."
- 12/07/2009, MTA whistleblower breaks nose, loses teeth, needs
stitches after alleged shove onto tracks, NYDailyNews.com,
"He crashed onto the tracks just hours after Kluger released a report
revealing that hundreds of track workers toil just four hours a day,
partly because NYC Transit doesn't want to interfere with rush-hour
train traffic."
- 12/06/2009, Whistleblower details exposure, courierpress.com,
"'I understand and accept there's danger with my line of
service, in my
line of service,' Gentry said in the December 2008 deposition. 'What's
very difficult for me to accept is if I'm working for KBR and they have
knowledge of hazardous chemicals on the ground that can cause cancer
and (they don't) share that knowledge, then that is putting my men at
risk that is unnecessary.'"
- 12/05/2009, Nez Perce County hit with whistleblower lawsuit, Associated
Press, "LEWISTON, Idaho (AP) - A former Nez Perce County Sheriff's
sergeant who says he was fired when his identity became known after
disclosing what he thought was confidential information concerning the
agency has filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the county."
- 12/03/2009,
FBI, DOJ refuse to investigate charges of judicial
corruption, The Examiner, "According to court documents
filed in Chicago, the FBI and DOJ turned a
blind eye to retaliation against citizens who attempted to expose the
corruption, including 'kidnapping of children, false incarceration
after being ‘framed’ by criminal elements in civil and criminal
authorities, impoverishment, coercion under duress, and serious
physical injury up to and including death.'”
- 12/03/2009, Whistleblower challenges US court ruling, Financial
Times, "The challenge has erupted just as Mr Birkenfeld, a
44-year-old American
who spent five years with UBS, presses a separate legal claim for a big
“reward” from the authorities under rules introduced by the Internal
Revenue Service to encourage whistleblowers."
- 12/03/2009, Inadequate laws expose whistleblowers and impede fight
against corruption, Transparency International, "TI and its
chapters in the 10 countries analysed, call for a
two-pronged approach to protect and thus benefit from whistleblowing:"
- 12/03/2009,
Whistleblower law: Amend measure to better achieve its
purpose, Watertown Daily News, "Companies targeted by
complaints have argued that they are exempt
because their employees worked for a corporate subsidiary. This
strategy has proved successful."
- 12/03/2009, Whistleblower suit raises questions in Hillsborough
employee's firing, TampaBay.com. "He says he was fired as an
executive planner after 14 years with the
county for revealing potential problems in affordable housing."
- 12/01/2009,
Shielding the Whistleblower, Wall Street Journal,
"Congress Set to Act as Many Employee Suits Get Dismissed on
Technicality."
November 2009 - 11/30/2009, Supreme Court hears case on whistle-blower lawsuits, USAToday, "WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court heard arguments Monday testing when
whistle-blowers who discover fraud in federal programs may sue in the
name of the United States and collect some of the settlement."
- 11/30/2009, A Whistle-Blower Says His Concerns About Safety Were Met With Scorn, New York Times,
"'Everybody has a right to work in a safe environment,' Mr. Greenberg
said. For his efforts, Mr. Greenberg says, union co-workers and
construction
supervisors threatened and abused him, ridiculed his size, his skin
condition and his chatty way with government regulators."
- 11/27/2009, Tough Whistleblower Law Goes to Go into Effect This Week, NBCNewYork, Workers who report they've been underpaid or mistreated are getting stronger protection
- 11/27/2009, Whistleblower awarded $210,00, South Florida Times, "FORT LAUDERDALE — A federal jury
has awarded $210,000 to a Broward County School District carpenter who
suffered retaliation for complaining about racial discrimination and
other issues."
- 11/25/2009, Hess, borough close to deal, Indiana Gazette, "Hess's lawsuit argues, among other things, that he was fired for
calling outside police attention to the borough's dealings with the
Blairsville Improvement Group, a nonprofit organization that promotes
the area."
- 11/25/2009, FAA to improve landing operations at Newark airport 2 years after whistle blower detailed safety risks, The Star Ledger, "The Federal Aviation Administration next month will improve
landing patterns at a dangerous runway intersection at Newark Liberty
International Airport, nearly two years after a whistle blower detailed
safety hazards that led to several near-crashes."
- 11/25/2009, Whistleblower Talks To I-Team About Councilman's Campaign, 10news.com, "...Chula Vista City Councilman Steve Castaneda still won't talk to the
10News I-Team about accusations that he cheated to get elected, a
whistleblower who has called out Castaneda is talking to the I-Team."
- 11/24/2009, Fort Myers whistleblower gets support money, Fort Meyers News-Press, "...his message: that Office Depot defrauded the Lee County School District
and numerous government agencies nationwide out of hundreds of millions
of dollars through a complex overpricing scheme."
- 11/23/2009, Whistleblowers deserve our praise, thanks, TheStar.com, "Portrait of a whistleblower; and Law society weighs if mayor went too far."
- 11/22/2009, Whistleblower recounts origins of 'Green Wall' at Salinas Valley State Prison, The Herald, "Eleven years after the
Thanksgiving Day Riot, D.J. Vodicka, the former guard who blew the
whistle on the gang of rogue officers, has published a book about the
experience that left him in hiding."
- 11/21/2009, GAP Highlights Role of Whistleblowers, Food Safety News, ""You have to give decent rights to people so they can tell the truth
and get away with it," said Devine, noting that food workers often face
the threat of losing their jobs, being deported, or harassment from
management for speaking out against food safety or animal treatment
violations."
- 11/20/2009, Bush-Era climate policy fiasco revisited, The Register Citizen, "Simply put, by accepting government employment, federal employees
shouldn’t be forced to give up their First Amendment freedoms, their
safeguards under whistleblower protection laws, their freedom to
communicate with Congress, or their rights under anti-gag legislation
that protect them from government officials who abuse their authority."
- 11/20/2009, Don't shoot the messenger, Wall Street Journal, "That essentially sets him up for failure by sabotage or non-cooperation."
- 11/20/2009, Whistleblower under attack, The Star, Ottawa - "Defence Minister Peter MacKay questions the credibility of Richard
Colvin, right, on Nov. 19, 2009 after the diplomat's testimony
suggested widespread Canadian knowledge and cover-up of Afghan prisoner
abuse." Editor's note: Although news is about Canada, the story involves the United States.
- 11/19/2009, HealthSouth whistleblower lectures UAB students on Company Fraud, University of Alabama Media Relations, ""I've lost everything financially. I've lost a
career and my CPA license, but do I have regrets about coming forward
and blowing the whistle?"
- 11/19/2009, Whistleblower: SEC still missing criminal activity, San Antonio Express, "regulators
still don't understand the business enough to stop future scandals, a
New York whistle-blower for a 2003 mutual fund skimming scandal ...
Congress could boost enforcement of current laws, Harrington said, if
it aimed hearings at regulatory matters instead of finding someone to
blame for scandals."
- 11/18/2009, Elizabeth medical center to pay $3M to settle Medicare fraud lawsuit,
The Star Ledger, "ELIZABETH -- Trinitas Regional Medical Center in
Elizabeth has agreed with the federal government to pay $3 million to
settle a lawsuit accusing the hospital of defrauding Medicare,
authorities said today. . . The agreement stems from a 2005 suit filed
by a whistle blower alleging Trinitas illegally inflated charges to
qualify for additional reimbursements reserved for Medicare patients
whose treatment is exceptionally expensive."
- 11/18/2009, United Health's Directive, It puts employees in a tough spot, Minneapolis Star Tribune, "A look at the legal landscape reflects the fragility of their position.
. . This means that they have no appreciable rights of
any kind, and management may treat them any way it wants, without much
legal recourse."
- 11/18/2009, Workers at power plant file grievance,Whistle-blower retaliation alleged, The San Deigo Union Tribune, "Two San Onofre nuclear power plant employees have filed federal
whistle-blower complaints, saying plant managers retaliated against
them after they reported safety violations."
- 11/17/2009, Whistleblower trial: Jury Rules in Favor of the University of Michigan, AnnArbor.com, "A Washtenaw County jury decided in favor of the University of Michigan today, rejecting a former graduate student's claims that the university halted his assistantship unfairly last year after he reported alleged safety violations."
- 11/17/2009, Scantibodies CEO wins 'whistleblower of the year award, Nephrology News and Issues, "On Oct. 13th Tom Cantor, CEO of Scantibodies Laboratory Inc., received
the “Whistleblower of the Year” award from the Taxpayers Against Fraud
organization in Washington, D.C."
- 11/14/2009, Judicial Standards panel: Ban Belk, Charlotte Observer, "But last month, Belk announced that the judicial commission had
informed him of its plan to seek his removal. He has suggested he was
targeted because of his efforts to reform the state's justice system."
- 11/14/2009, EDITORIAL: U.S. Senate should OK media shield law to help protect whistleblowers, The Beaumont Enterprise McClatchy-Tribune, "The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote on the Free
Flow bill, S 448, next Thursday. Most senators approve it, but the bill
faces stalling techniques on the Senate floor from Sens. Jeff Sessions,
R-Ala., and Jon Kyl, R-Ariz."
- 11/14/2009, Law firm for UMDNJ removed from trial,
The New Jersey Star-Ledger, "More than two years ago, Ellen Casey — a
former high-level purchasing official for the state’s medical
university claimed she
was fired after raising questions about millions in lucrative contracts
that were never publicly bid."
- 11/14/2009, School district fires Head Start director,
The Galveston County Daily News, HITCHCOCK, "[Doreatha] Walker has
filed a whistle-blower lawsuit against the district, claiming the
officials want to get rid of her because she lodged complaints with the
state . . . Walker clashed with district administrators throughout the
past year. She reported in November 2008 that mold in the building,
5700 FM 2004, was making her sick."
- 11/13/2009 Whistleblower case heard again, San Diego Union-Tribune, "Ohton, an SDSU employee since 1986, claims he suffered illegal
retaliation, including losing his job as strength coach of the football
team, after he cooperated with a CSU audit that in 2003 found
mismanagement in the athletic department."
- 11/12/2009, Former Shepardsville wastewater chief appeals demotion, Louisville Kentucky Courier-Journal, "Shepherdsville’s
former wastewater system superintendent is fighting his demotion,
saying it was without cause and violated the state Whistleblower Act,
according to legal filings."
- 11/11/2009, Anchorage Woman "Fired" For Reporting Sick Building, KTVA, "'I can't speak efficiently because of the
illness,' said Coppe, who alleges the cause of that illness lies behind
the walls of the Alaska Surgery Center, at 4001 Laurel Street."
- 11/09/2009 Dodging the Graft, Financial Times,
"[N]egotiators meeting in Doha to discuss the six-year-old United
Nations Convention against Corruption must make sure the momentum
gained by the anti-corruption fight over the past two decades does not
become a casualty of the crisis."
- 11/07/2009 Whistleblower Files Lawsuit Against Natrona County,
CASPER, Wyo. (AP) ― "A whistleblower whose statements led to the
indictment of Natrona County's former chief deputy coroner on drug
charges . . . contends her termination in April 2008 was in retaliation
for her reporting theft of medication and her complaints of sexual
harassment."
- 11/06/2009 Contempt notice to transparency lawyer, The Telegraph,
Calcutta, India, "The Supreme Court today issued a contempt notice to
activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan for remarks accusing a judge of
ignoring a potential conflict of interests and awarding mining leases
to a company in which he held shares."
- 11/04/2009 Decisive meeting on corruption: 141 governments meet in Doha starting 9 November,
Berlin. "Transparency International is one of more than 300 civil
society groups collectively demanding effective monitoring of UNCAC at
the conference in Doha, for which concrete recommendations
have been submitted." The referenced recommendation, "draws the
attention of the Commission to the harassment of trade unionists who
have blown the whistle on corruption."
- 11/03/2009 Groups cry foul over UBS Whistleblower term
October 2009 |