The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted final rules to implement the whistleblower provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and they will take effect August 12. The rules provide incentives for whistleblowers who will be entitled to receive between 10 and 30 percent of the total monetary sanctions recovered...

Recently I began an informal survey of some of my present and former whistleblower clients to see if I can decipher some patterns in what motivates people to become whistleblowers when they learn of fraud or purposeful financial mismanagement. Interestingly, I found that some similarities are found in the profession of the individuals. For...

Under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act ("Dodd-Frank"), whistleblowers who report violations of securities law, commodities law or the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act to the attention of the right government authorities-the SEC, DOJ or Commodities Futures Trading Commission, are entitled to between 20% to 30% of the Government's recovery in excess...

Former U.S. attorney in Boston, turned criminal defense attorney Michael Loucks, says that whistleblowers receive too much money under the False Claims Act and their rewards should be capped at $2 million. As he sees things now, the government didn't design the law to warrant whistleblowers so much. Loucks, who now works for Skadden...

The U.S. Dept. of Labor has fined Westfield Mass. Navy contractor NWS Corp. for wrongfully terminating an employee who filed a safety complaint with the state OSHA program. NWS is under contract to perform installation, construction and maintenance of cable and internet systems for the Navy. OSHA enforces the whistleblower provisions of the Occupational...

To encourage employees with inside knowledge to come forward and reveal violations of securities laws, Congress has expanded whistleblower protections from retaliation. As additional motivation, the law adds a 'bounty' provision providing lucrative monetary rewards of upto 30% of the monetary sanctions. That's in cases where sanctions are in excess of $1 million. Whistleblowers...

The Health Care Reform Law called The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2009, soon to take effect, if not overturned by Congress, contains special protections for nurses, nursing home employees and other health care workers who reasonably believes that there has been a violation of the law. The employee whistleblower cannot suffer...

Massachusetts nurse whistleblowers, the front-line patient advocates, say they need special protections from employer retaliation after reporting poor healthcare practices. Nurses have been in the forefront of seeking safe nurse-to-patient ratios in Massachusetts hospitals. With healthcare dollars stretched thin, patients need committed nurses even more than before. The Massachusetts Nurses Association and United American...