On June 16, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in United States, ex rel. Polansky v. Executive Health Resources, Inc. The Supreme Court decided that the Department of Justice has broad authority to dismiss whistleblower lawsuits filed under the False Claims Act (“FCA”) when the government initially allowed a whistleblower to file suit. On first glance, it sounds as if this diminishes a whistleblower’s right and lowers their success. This ruling did not do that. The DOJ only dismissed the case after years of litigation and they dismissed the case, citing that the DOJ questioned the petitioner’s likelihood of success.
This case is a rare instance. The FCA’s qui tam provision allows whistleblowers to file suit on behalf of the government. Whistleblower’s rarely enable this provision. The usual process is that the whistleblower, an individual, notifies Treasury that a taxpayer is violating the Internal Code by filing Form 211 (Application for Award for Original Information).
Section 7623 authorizes the Secretary to “pay such sums as he deems necessary for … detecting and bringing to trial and punishment persons guilty of violating the internal revenue laws.” Under Section 7623(b), a whistleblower is entitled to a non-discretionary award of between 15 and 30 percent of proceeds if the IRS “proceeds with any administrative or judicial action … based on information brought to...
Shots fired inside the hotel hosting the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner attended by President Donald Trump caused immediate confusion about the suspect and what transpired at the A...