Jed Cain
Partner
Organizations often have confidentiality agreements to prevent employees from sharing privileged information with the public. It’s no surprise that companies want to avoid leaks, but a shroud of secrecy can make it easy for misconduct to occur. When someone reveals wrongdoing within an organization, it’s called whistleblowing. Whistleblowing can happen in any industry, and these individuals have laws that protect them from being punished for coming forward. Some whistleblowers are eligible to receive financial compensation from the government in exchange for their honesty. Employers might target whistleblowers for retaliation if an organization finds out, so it’s important to talk to a whistleblower attorney before filing a complaint.
Whistleblowers reveal wrongdoing within an organization — but more specifically, evidence of “waste, fraud, abuse, or mismanagement,” according to the Office of Inspector General. Whistleblowing can happen within any organization but is especially common in healthcare-related industries. In many fraud-related cases, the government is the party being scammed, and taxpayer dollars are used fraudulently. The offender must have known (or should’ve known) that they were submitting a fraudulent claim. In many cases, the fraud often wouldn’t have ever come to light without a whistleblower’s testimony. Some examples of impropriety in recent years include:
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