The Department of Justice’s 2020 data is here, and it paints another compelling picture of the value brought by whistleblowers who file cases under the False Claims Act (FCA). In 2020, claims filed by whistleblowers were responsible for about 75% of new cases filed and about 75% of government fraud proceeds. And rewards made to whistleblowers in 2020 averaged about 18% of the proceeds collected by the government.
These conclusions are the results of DOJ’s annual collection and publication of data about the year’s filings under the FCA, as well as the amounts collected by the government. DOJ recently published the data for 2020 in a spreadsheet that provides information dating back to 1986, when the FCA was significantly strengthened. The data presents total filings, filings related to the Department of Health and Human Services, filings related to the Department of Defense, and all other filings.
What does the data show?
The 2020 data shows that whistleblowers played a critical role in prosecuting fraud against the government:
- Whistleblowers filed 672 new qui tam cases, compared to 250 new cases filed by the government, for a total of 902 new cases.
- Prior cases filed by whistleblowers resolved in 2020 yielded $1.68 billion compared to $545 million resulting from government-filed cases for a total of $2.31 billion collected under the FCA.
- Whistleblower rewards amounted to more than $300 million.
The 2020 data shows that fraud related to health care led the pack for both new cases and recoveries:
- 68% of new qui tam cases related to health care fraud.
- 5% of new qui tam cases related to Department of Defense fraud.
- 27% of new qui tam cases related to other kinds of fraud against the government.
- 5% of recoveries related to health care fraud (note: this data does not include state recoveries for Medicaid fraud, which are also extensive).
- 6% of recoveries related to Department of Defense fraud.
- 9% of recoveries related to other kinds of fraud against the government.
The 2020 data shows that fraud has many, many faces.
The Department of Justice press release regarding 2020 data provides an overview of significant cases for the year. It highlights illegal kickbacks for drug and medical device prescribers, illegal payment of co-pays for expensive drugs, opioid-related cases, bid-rigging, bribery, and providing false information related to government purchases. Within health care alone, fraud encompasses a vast gamut of cases ranging from pharmaceuticals and medical devices to managed care providers, hospitals, pharmacies, hospices, laboratories, and physicians, and includes Medicare, Tricare, and VA claims. Other kinds of fraud include claims involving departments or agencies unrelated to HHS or DoD, e.g., energy, agriculture, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, commerce, the National Institutes of Health, and housing.
The Government values Qui tam whistleblowers.
The DOJ press release releasing the 2020 FCA data acknowledged the vital role played by whistleblowers in these recoveries:
Whistleblowers with insider information are critical to identifying and pursuing new and evolving fraud schemes that might otherwise remain undetected. These individuals often make substantial sacrifices to bring these schemes to light, and our efforts to protect taxpayer funds continue to benefit from their actions.
Whistleblowers cannot file FCA cases on their own. Because government interests are at stake, courts require whistleblowers to be represented by an attorney who can navigate these complex cases, including the interpretation of statutes and regulations that can be challenging to understand. Attorneys with FCA experience can also effectively interact with DOJ attorneys, actively assist the government, and effectively multiply the DOJ’s limited resources.
The 2020 data shows the tremendous contribution whistleblowers make when they file qui tam FCA cases. Whistleblowers protect taxpayer dollars and protect others from the harm caused by fraud. The government’s interests in prosecuting FCA cases and the potential rewards available to whistleblowers warrant taking action and consulting with an FCA attorney when an individual has knowledge of fraud against the government in any of its many forms.
Review the fraud statistics provided by the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division
A Partner at Halunen Law, Susan Coler is a member of the Halunen Law False Claims Act (FCA)/Whistleblower Practice Group, a team of attorneys solely dedicated to litigating False CLaims Act and other whistleblower cases across the country. Susan represented a relator in an FCA claim against Abbott Laboratories that resulted in a civil settlement of $800 million (total settlement of $1.5 billion), the fifth-largest civil healthcare recovery ever achieved under the FCA. Learn more.
Newark, NJ, December 4, 2020. A lawsuit filed by former employees of NY Waterway, which operates ferry vessels between New York and New Jersey, claims the company illegally dumped raw sewage, oil, fuel, coolant and other pollutants into New York harbor and surrounding waters for years while operating a fleet of 30 vessels that carry up to 30,000 passengers a day.
According to the complaint, videos and photographs taken by the former employees show workers dumping sewage through a hose thrown over the side of ferries and illegally dumping it directly into the Hudson River from the holding tanks. In one video, dye provided by the EPA to track the pollution is shown billowing across the river as employees scramble to disperse the evidence by stopping and starting engines at the dock. The ferry depicted in the video was taken out of service and its GPS device turned off before being moved to a New York-based dock, the lawsuit alleges.
As an attorney with Halunen Law’s FCA Practice Group, Nathaniel Smith is determined to bring fraudulent conduct to light, and to justice. Having recovered millions on behalf of whistleblowers in both employment retaliation cases and qui tam whistleblower lawsuits under the False Claims Act (FCA), he is relentless in his pursuit. 
If you suspect that your employer or some other entity is committing fraud against the government, here are some things you can do to increase your chances of bringing a successful False Claims Act case.
Lon Leavitt joined Halunen Law after a successful 12-year tenure as an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Arizona, one of the largest and busiest federal districts in the country. In that role, he managed False Claims Act investigations and litigation on behalf of the federal government in a wide range of fields, including health care, defense and education. Lon is especially knowledgeable in health care fraud enforcement, having pursued cases successfully against hospitals, hospices, physician groups, and other health care providers. 
The news in recent years has had many stories about “whistleblowers”—what they reported, what caused them to blow the whistle, and what happened as a result. Perhaps you have seen some sort of misconduct on the part of an employer, a corporation, a competitor, or a health provider. And you wonder “Am I a whistleblower?” or “What do I do?” Or perhaps you have already reported some wrongdoing and are wondering if you are now experiencing retaliation.
A Partner at Halunen Law, 
It is unusual for any plaintiff or relator to achieve a summary judgment ruling in its favor in any type of case. But in 
The public-private partnership envisioned by the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act (FCA) is one of its most successful and powerful aspects, yielding billions of dollars in recoveries. The FCA permits the Government, the whistleblower, and their attorneys to cooperate—and they often do—when investigating and litigating FCA claims. But are there limits to that cooperation? Can government officials ask a whistleblower to secretly record conversations between the whistleblower and individuals who are under investigation but are represented by an attorney? The answer, according to one federal court, is “yes.”
One of the first and most frequent arguments defendants make in fighting qui tam allegations under the False Claims Act (FCA) is that the case brought by the whistleblower, or “relator,” is not viable because it is based on publicly available information, the relator is not an “original source” of that information, or both. On February 19, 2020, the First Circuit Court of Appeals issued an important decision clarifying that to qualify as an original source, a relator need not have participated in the fraud or observed it in operation. Instead, a relator may qualify as an original source if the relator sees or receives information that is suggestive of fraud, hears suspicious conversations, and discovers additional evidence of fraud through personal investigation. United States ex rel. Banigan v. PharMerica, Inc., No. 18-1487, 2020 WL 813258, at *8-9 (1st Cir. Feb. 19, 2020).
We often write about the more common protections for employees in Minnesota, such as protections against discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation for reporting law violations (i.e. whistle blowers), and protections for employees who take medical leave. But, did you know that Minnesota also provides lesser-known protections to employees? For example, Minnesota law allows employees to take up to 16 hours of time off work to attend their child’s school conferences and activities each year and for each child.
Although Minnesota is an “employment at-will” state—meaning the employer may terminate an employee at any time for any reason—there are, in fact, exceptions to the rule. Since 1967 the Minnesota Human Rights Act has served as the State’s comprehensive employment rights law and provides a wide range of protections for employees. Yet even with the law in place, employers continue to violate employees’ rights in countless ways. Here are 20 of the most common violations for which an employee may seek monetary relief under the Minnesota Human Rights Act: