Clay Arnold, a Sacramento False Claims Act attorney, voiced support today for OSHA’s creation of an advisory committee that will focus on protecting whistleblowers from wrongful retaliation.
According to EHS Today, the committee will advise the Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) “on ways to improve the efficiency, effectiveness and transparency of the agency’s administration of whistleblower protections.”
These protections include the prohibition against employers retaliating against whistleblowers through “adverse actions” such as firing, demoting, intimidating, threatening or denying benefits.
“At the Arnold Law Firm, we have tremendous respect for those brave and responsible individuals who come forward to report fraud, corruption and other wrongdoing against our state and federal governments, and we believe they deserve the utmost protection,” said Arnold, whose firm represents clients throughout California in False Claims Act cases.
“By forming this committee, OSHA is showing that it takes seriously its duty to enforce our country’s whistleblower laws,” he said. “Our form takes seriously our own duty to provide aggressive representation in every whistleblower action that we handle.”
False Claims Act laws protect workers who report the fraudulent misuse of government funds. They enable individuals to file lawsuits on behalf of the government agencies being defrauded. Those suits are also called “qui tam claims.” Under federal law, whistleblowers can typically collect 15 to 30 percent of any money recovered in a successful lawsuit.
In California, a whistleblower may receive up to 50 percent of the recovery. The state uses a sliding scale that factors in the volume and quality of information provided by the whistleblower and the amount of hands-on assistance provided to public prosecutors.
Qui tam claim lawsuits filed under whistleblower actions usually pertain to tax fraud, health care fraud (such as false Medicaid or Medicare claims), Social Security fraud, or
corporate fraud that involves overbilling the government or submitting false information to regulatory agencies.
“Whistleblowers play a vital role in protecting corporate shareholders and the general public from the costs of fraudulent activity,” Arnold said. “They should be supported and protected by their legislators at the state and federal levels, not subjected to the likelihood of retaliation.”
About The Arnold Law Firm
The Arnold Law Firm was founded in Sacramento, California, in 1975 by Clay C. Arnold. The firm’s personal injury trial attorneys are dedicated to the aggressive representation of people injured by the negligent actions of others. The firm’s experienced trial attorneys have successfully advocated for hundreds of people throughout the United States injured in automobile, trucking, and construction equipment accidents; on construction sites and work sites; by dangerous conditions of public and private property; by defective products; through the malpractice of healthcare professionals and legal professionals; and through the use of unsafe drugs or medical devices. The Arnold Law Firm is located at 865 Howe Avenue #300, Sacramento, CA, 95825. For help with a personal injury case, contact the firm at (916) 924-3100 or use its online form.
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