Washington DC Capitol Building where whistleblower statutes have been discussed, representing whistleblower protections and the CHOICE Act

Deeper Insights into Government Enforcement Under Trump Administration

It was an interesting week on government enforcement as the Obama Administration is closing out its term with fines against auto industry manufacturers VW ($4.3 billion) and Takata (expected to be up to $1 billion). After the inauguration, these enforcement decisions will be in the hands of the Trump Administration. President-elect Trump has promised change...

Study: Whistleblowers Deter Wrongdoing

A study of whistleblower retaliation cases at 317 public companies in the United States out of the University of Iowa has concluded that businesses that have had a whistleblower are less likely to have accounting irregularities or tax aggressiveness. The research done by Jarone H. Wilde, an assistant professor of accounting at Iowa, focused on the two years...

OSHA Guidelines: Protecting Whistleblowers from Retaliation

Last week, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration offered a set of recommendations for employers to create retaliation-free workplaces. The guidance is directed at employers with employees covered by the 22 whistleblower protection statutes enforced by OSHA. The publication reinforces the broad scope of 22 federal statutes offering anti-retaliation protections concerning hazards or violations of...

Beige Volkswagen Beetle, representing the $4 Billion Fine for Volkswagen and NHTSA Whistleblower Rules

A $4 Billion Fine for Volkswagen

A $4 Billion Fine for Volkswagen Reuters is reporting that Volkswagen AG and the Justice Department are near an agreement to resolve criminal and civil liability for the German automaker’s diesel emissions cheating scandal. If the reported $3 billion figure is finalized, it will be the largest fine ever paid by an automaker to the...

Crashing Waves, representing disaster relief fraud and whistleblower retaliation

Whistleblower Retaliation: A Turning Point in 2016?

The Prevalence of Whistleblower Retaliation The prevalence of retaliation by corporations against whistleblowers has been well documented. Not only does it serve to punish those who come forward, but it has a chilling effect on other employees who might speak out against wrongful conduct. Employees in these companies quickly learn that the policies protecting whistleblowers...

100 Dollar Bills representing settlement and False Claims Act

False Claims Act Yields $519 Million for Whistleblowers in FY2016

False Claims Act Helps Recover $4.7 Billion The Justice Department announced the third highest annual recovery in the history of the False Claims Act yesterday – $4.7 billion for the federal government for fiscal year 2016 (ending Sept. 30th). Whistleblowers received awards of $519 million for their assistance recovering $2.9 billion – more than half...

5 Areas Where President Trump Will Pay Whistleblowers

President Trump Will Pay Whistleblowers There has already been much commentary on the impact that President Trump and his administration will have on government enforcement efforts. Trump has made it clear that he intends to streamline government regulation of business in order to spur the economy. He’s also promised to dismantle Dodd-Frank, the law that...

One Year Later, No NHTSA Whistleblower Rules Announcement

No NHTSA Whistleblower Rules Yet When Congress passed the Motor Vehicle Safety Whistleblower Act as part of the FAST Act last December, it gave the Transportation Department 18 months to implement the regulations for the new whistleblower statute. A year later, there has been no public notice soliciting feedback on the new rules. On one...

Man Wearing Black Denim Pants With Carrying Hammer on Holster, representing permanent whistleblower protections for contractors

Permanent Whistleblower Protections for Federal Contractors

Permanent Whistleblower Protections A bill sponsored by Senator Claire McCaskill to make permanent a pilot program applying whistleblower protections to contractors, subcontractors, grant recipients, and subgrantees has been passed by the House and Senate. It applies the program’s protection from retaliation to nearly all civilian employees except for the intelligence community. The pilot program was...

Courthouse with columns, representing Department of Justice (DOJ) and SEC Enforcement

Supreme Court Upholds Insider Trading Conviction in Salman

The Supreme Court issued its decision in Salman v. United States today, the first insider trading case to reach the Justices in more than 20 years. The Supreme Court upheld the standard from its prior ruling, Dirks v. SEC, 463 U.S. 646 (1983) and concluded that a tipper personally benefits from a gift of confidential information to a...

Author: Young Law Group