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Qui Tam Actions

There are a number of State and Federal laws which are designed to both protect and encourage people who blow the whistle on their employer’s illegal activities.  For example, Federal “Qui Tam” actions are lawsuits which can be filed by employees who believe that their employer is committing fraud against the U.S. Government.  Qui Tam actions allow the government recover money they have lost due to the fraud.  To encourage employees to come forward with such information, the law allows the whistleblower to receive a percentage of the recovery.  Since the mid-1980’s, the United States has recovered more than $20 billion dollars from companies which have defrauded government programs. 

Federal Qui Tam lawsuits are brought under a law known as the False Claims Act.  (31 U.S.C. Section 3729, et seq.)  These cases are typically initiated by private attorneys and their whistleblower clients.  A simplified version of the chronology of such cases is as follows. 

When a whistleblower discovers fraud that they believe violates the False Claims Act, they contact a private attorney with experience in such matters.  Together, the whistleblower and their attorney review the facts and decide whether a Qui Tam action should be pursued.  If they decide to proceed, a complaint will be filed under the False Claims Act in the appropriate federal court.  The complaint will be filed under seal to protect the identity of the whistleblower.  The whistleblower and their attorney then supply the government with all of the evidence they have gathered to date. 

At that point, the government will initiate its own investigation of the allegations made in the sealed complaint and decide whether they will intervene in the lawsuit.  If the government intervenes, the whistleblower and their attorney will help the government prosecute the lawsuit.  The whistleblower and their lawyers are allowed to remain as a parties to the suit.  If the government decides not to intervene, the whistleblower and their private attorney have the option of continuing the lawsuit on their own. 

Persons who are found to be in violation of the False Claims Act will be liable to the Federal Government for three times the amount of damages sustained by the Government, in addition to certain mandatory civil penalties.  The whistleblower in a successful Qui Tam action will be entitled to receive between 15% and 30% of the proceeds of the action.  California and other states have similar laws which essentially track the provisions of the Federal statute. 

Fraud committed against state or federal programs can be extremely harmful to the public and the citizens who legitimately rely on those programs for assistance.  For example, a nursing home or pharmacy which defrauds Medicaid or Medi-Cal is essentially stealing taxpayer money and limiting the resources available to legitimate claimants. 

As previously stated, there are a variety of different Federal and State laws which protect whistleblowers from retaliation by their employers.  These laws can be very complex and the best thing to do if you believe that your employer is retaliating against you for exposing their illegal conduct is contact a qualified California attorney right away.  Various statutes of limitation restrict the amount of time you have to file a legal claim so you must act fast to preserve your rights.     

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