December 07, 2015 | Posted By: Hoyer Law Group, PLLC
Updating on our previous post, on Friday, December 4th, the United States Supreme Court accepted certiorari in the case Universal Health Services v. United States ex rel. Escobar. As described by the ScotusBlog, the important issues related to qui tam liability presented to the High Court are: whether the “implied certification” theory of legal falsity under […]
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November 24, 2015 | Posted By: Hoyer Law Group, PLLC
Petitions for certiorari are before the Supreme Court of the United States asking that the Court resolve an important issue impacting False Claims Act liability for government contractors. The issue is whether implied certification of compliance with government contracts and regulations can be actionable in a qui tam lawsuit. The two cases that prompted the petitions […]
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October 28, 2015 | Posted By: Hoyer Law Group, PLLC
Some potential clients have asked: are federal agencies immune from whistleblower cases? For example, a federal health agency employee may have witnessed what they perceive the be wasteful spending of Medicare dollars or in some cases outright fraud. As any taxpayer would, they’d like to report what they’ve seen done with taxpayer money, and if […]
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October 06, 2015 | Posted By: Hoyer Law Group, PLLC
Last month, Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates issued a memorandum on behalf of the Department of Justice (DOJ) that should help whistleblowers nationwide. The memorandum instructs DOJ attorneys investigating criminal and civil corporate misconduct to zero-in on the individual wrongdoers rather than just the corporate entity. The guidance will hopefully lead to larger, quicker settlements […]
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September 16, 2015 | Posted By: Hoyer Law Group, PLLC
In our experience, whistleblowers by and large do not do it for the money. Rather they bring the case in order to right a wrong inflicted upon their government and fellow taxpayers. That said, whistleblowers are financially incentivized to bring their cases. Section 3730(d)(1) of the False Claims Act (“FCA”), 31 U.S.C. §§3729-33 provides that […]
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August 27, 2015 | Posted By: Hoyer Law Group, PLLC
Last month, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an important ruling for whistleblower lawsuits, reversing 23-years of bad law pertaining to what a relator must prove to overcome the Public Disclosure Bar. The Public Disclosure Bar seeks to prevent lawsuits by “opportunistic plaintiffs who have no significant information to contribute of their own.” Graham County Soil […]
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July 30, 2015 | Posted By: Hoyer Law Group, PLLC
Senator Chuck Grassley To help celebrate the 237th anniversary of the first whistleblower law passed by the Continental Congress back in 1778, United States Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa prepared a stirring statement recounting the law’s history and the obstacles it has had to overcome to become the effective tool for recovering taxpayer money that […]
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July 07, 2015 | Posted By: Hoyer Law Group, PLLC
Representing a big win for whistleblowers, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal recently upheld a $237 million False Claims Act verdict against Tuomey Healthcare System, which some have billed as the “largest ever levied against a community hospital.” The case could have a tremendous impact on the company’s continued viability as it exceeds the annual revenue. […]
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June 19, 2015 | Posted By: Hoyer Law Group, PLLC
In United States ex rel. Holmes v. Northrop Grumman Corp., No. 1:13-cv-00085-HSO-RHW (S.D. Miss. June 3, 2015), a district court tossed the whistleblower, who was an attorney, and his case because of a series of serious ethical misconduct including the blatant violation of court orders. Some are hailing the case as a “strong warning” and a […]
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June 01, 2015 | Posted By: Hoyer Law Group, PLLC
In a rare unanimous decision last week, the United States Supreme Court issued a long-awaited opinion to False Claims Act (FCA) relator Benjamin Carter in the case of Kellogg, Brown & Root, Inc., et al v. U.S. ex rel. Carter, 575 U.S. ___ (2015). Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the undivided Court. As we’ve written about […]
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May 06, 2015 | Posted By: Hoyer Law Group, PLLC
Photo by HFMA.org Harvard professor and healthcare expert Atul Gawande recently noted that the unnecessary medical care endangers patients and robs the taxpayers. In a recent article published in The New Yorker, Gawande cited fraud as a significant contributor to what leading researchers describe as “low-value care.” Gawande, a general surgeon, notes that ‘[d]octors get […]
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May 01, 2015 | Posted By: Hoyer Law Group, PLLC
Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin will soon have the opportunity to sign into law the state’s first False Claims Act. The House voted Wednesday to approve the Senate version of H.120, which is modeled after the federal law. This is an important step for taxpayers in Vermont who will finally have a vehicle with which to […]
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