Whistleblowers Are Punished for Reporting Fraud
Remember this? Time magazine selected Cynthia Cooper, Sherron Watkins, and Coleen Rowley as its Persons of the Year in 2002 for their courage and determination in coming forward and reporting financial and ethical improprieties at their respective employers, WorldCom, Enron, and the FBI. Things certainly have changed. An Associated Press story published in today's Sunday Gazette-Mail (Charleston, WV) describes what happened to employees of military contractors in Iraq who have reported fraud and corruption committed by their employers: "They have been fired or demoted, shunned by colleagues, and denied government support in whistleblower lawsuits against contracting firms."
What may be most distressing about their treatment is the lack of support from the government. The article reports that the government has not joined a single qui tam suit alleging Iraq reconstruction abuse, estimated in the tens of millions, even though at least a dozen such lawsuits have been filed since 2004. The government can join the case, as the Department of Justice has done in cases involving Medicare and Medicaid fraud and domestic contractor overbilling. But cases against Iraq reconstruction contractors seem to be off limits. And if the government doesn't join the case, the perception, right or wrong, is that the case doesn't have much merit.
Qui tam lawsuits, which are brought under the Federal False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. § 3729 et seq., seek to recover on behalf of the government and the plaintiff and provide for treble damages. Take a look at The Whistleblower Law Blog written by Brian F. LaBovick, which has a lot of information on this area of law.
