Whistleblower

The Whistleblower Law protects employees and independent contractors who divulge certain prohibited activities from their employers. The Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) applies to government workplaces and agencies. The Securities and Exchange Commission Office of the Whistleblower protects those who blow the whistle on Securities and Exchange Commission violations.

The federal whistle blower protection act protects you in case you are a federal employee who has reported illegal activity, gross mismanagement, or actions that represent a danger or health endangerments, such as an environmental hazard or an auto accident. You can report violations to the federal Whistle Blower Protection Ombudsman.

This statute protects individuals who work for a non-governmental organization (NGO) and blow the whistle on fraud (or a significant violation of applicable law or regulation) in a civil or criminal investigation, audit, or inspection of a government contractor or grant recipient.

Often, whistleblowers use the False Claims Act because there isn't a state law that covers fraud against the government or that the employee is limited in its ability to file suit for state claims. Qui Tam claims also reward the whistleblower with a percentage of the funds that the government recovers.
The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 is a federal law that protects workers' civil rights. It prohibits employers from retaliating against employees for exercising their right to a safe and healthy workplace and filing complaints or giving testimony about potential violations of OSHA standards, among other things.

Most individual states have their whistleblower laws to protect employees from retaliation, like the ones found here: U.S. Whistleblower Law. However, most do not give whistleblowers the ability to collect monetary damages. However, federal whistleblower laws will precede state law if a provision of state law does not allow the whistleblower to recover monetary damages.

Qui Tam Law allows a private citizen (or "whistleblower") to file a lawsuit against an individual or a business to expose the fraud committed against the government. The whistleblower gets a reward for having helped the government regain its funds.

Suppose an individual or party discovering fraudulent activity attempts to institute a qui tam action. In that case, it is up to the United States Department of Justice to determine whether or not to intervene.

For the Department of Justice to intervene, the activity in question must "allege a violation of a Federal criminal statute" or "be based at least in part on publicly disclosed allegations or transactions" relating to that statute. The Department of Justice may decline to intervene if it decides that litigation with the defendant is not in the interests of the United States.

A whistleblower claim, also known as a qui tam claim, is a claim that requires federal government funds to be involved and that the alleged deception be substantial and not based on a technical violation or error. Additionally, a whistleblower filing the qui tam claim must have credible and original information about the alleged fraud.

The False Claims Act generally applies to payments from the government to private contractors. (Note: they are paid claims, not payments.) The U.S. Justice Department administers it, and it helps the government recover money that has been fraudulently obtained.

There are many different specific provisions required in a qui tam claim. Qui tam lawsuits can be very complicated. While a realtor is not required by law to have an attorney to file a qui tam suit, most courts will rule that a realtor must have an attorney to file a lawsuit. This is because these suits are brought on behalf of the U.S. government.