It has never been better to be a whistleblower. First, agencies within the United States are prioritizing tips from whistleblowers to determine their enforcement actions. Second, under certain whistleblower statutes, a whistleblower is entitled to up to 30% of the proceeds from those enforcement actions. And third, there are strong protections in place to protect whistleblowers from retaliation by their…
Posted July 15th, 2019. Click here to read the injunction Cleveland, July 15, 2019 – U.S. District Judge Dan Polster, who oversees the National Prescription Opiate Litigation, entered an order confirming that the three largest Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) in the country have implemented and/or will implement changes to their standard nationwide practices that align with the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) Guideline for…
The False Claims Act (“FCA”), 31 U.S.C. §§ 3729 et seq., is the Government’s primary tool to recover losses due to fraud and abuse by those seeking payment from the United States. See S. Rep. No. 345, 99 Cong., 2nd Sess. at 2 (1986) reprinted in 1986 U.S.C.C.A.N 5266. The FCA is a whistleblower statute, meaning that any person, whether a citizen of…
Several recent studies demonstrate that age discrimination is pervasive in American workplaces, which is causing extensive damage to the health and careers of older workers. According to a 2018 AARP survey, about three in five older workers have either seen or experienced age discrimination in the workplace, and more than nine in ten older workers see age discrimination as either…
More and more, employers are forcing workers to give up their constitutional rights to seek justice in our nation’s courts. Instead of seeing their day in court, workers may be sidelined into “arbitration.” This means a private individual or “arbitrator” can decide a civil litigation case outside of court, without a judge or jury. Arbitration agreements frequently contain blanket confidentiality…
Since its enactment in 2002, Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) has left a large, albeit often controversial, footprint in the world of corporate internal controls. As the compliance world has adjusted to the post-SOX era, businesses and courts have observed a growing need to address the current and future SOX requirements of private companies. This has had particular significance with regards to SOX’s…
Typically, stockbrokers earn commissions each time an investor enters a securities order to buy stock or sell stock. Full-service stockbrokers earn higher commissions than online stockbrokers because, unlike online stockbrokers, full-service stockbrokers provide investors with the added service of advising you when to buy, sell or hold particular investments. Because stockbrokers are paid on commission, there is an inherent conflict…
If you live in Kentucky and are pregnant, planning to become pregnant, or breastfeeding, you should be aware of new protections that may apply to you and your employer. Last month Kentucky passed the Pregnant Workers Act with bipartisan support, making it the 25th state to pass specific legislation to protect pregnant employees. Federal laws already prohibit many employers from discriminating…
Deutsche Bank is in the news again, this time for false and misleading sales practices. At the heart of a complaint filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was a quid pro quo relationship in which Deutsche Bank offered only those funds whose sponsors agreed to kick-back a portion of their management fees to Deutsche Bank. The problem with…
Americans are growing older. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the current median age for an American is 38, and it is expected to rise to 40 by 2030.[1] In other words, by 2030 the number of Americans who are 40 and above will equal the number of Americans who are younger than 40. At the same time, Americans are working…