Atlanta Whistleblower Retaliation Lawyer

Over 25 Years Representing Whistleblowers in GA

Have you been fired because you blew the whistle on fraud against the Government or against the stockholders of a publicly-traded company? You may be entitled to compensation for your lost wages and other damages.

Lee Wallace has over 25 years of experience and a Harvard Law degree to work for whistleblowers like you. She is a passionate Atlanta whistleblower retaliation attorney who is ready to protect you from employers or other entities that are targeting you.

If you are retaliated against for trying to stop fraud, contact Lee Wallace.

Answers About Whistleblowing

Do I have any job protection?
The False Claims Act may give you job protection. We all lose when someone commits fraud against the Government. But whistleblowers have every right to be afraid that they will be the biggest losers of all if they lose their jobs because they try to warn the Government about the fraud. To encourage whistleblowers to come forward, the False Claims Act allows the whistleblower (called the “relator”) to get a percentage of all the money that the Government recovers. See 31 U.S.C. § 3729, et seq. But the Government recognized that many people who know about fraud still are reluctant to come forward because they think they will lose their jobs. So the False Claims Act (“FCA”) prohibits retaliation against a person who is doing “lawful acts” “in furtherance of an action under this section or other efforts to stop 1 or more violations” of the FCA. Id. at (h)(1).

What is considered retaliation?
The False Claims Act says that you can recover if you were “discharged, demoted, suspended, threatened, harassed, or in any other manner discriminated against in the terms and conditions of employment.” 31 U.S.C. § 3730(h)(1).

Do I have to prove that my employer actually violated the False Claims Act?
No. The Supreme Court has definitively ruled that: “proving a violation of § 3729 is not an element of a § 3730(h) cause of action.” Graham County Soil & Water Conservation Dist. v. United States ex rel. Wilson, 545 U.S. 409, 416 (U.S. 2005).

What do I have to prove for my retaliation claim?
Several circuits have held that the standard for “determin[ing] whether an employee’s actions are protected under § 3730(h) is whether: “(1) the employee in good faith believes, and (2) a reasonable employee in the same or similar circumstances might believe, that the employer is committing fraud against the government.” Moore v. Cal. Inst. of Tech. Jet Propulsion Lab., 275 F.3d 838, 845 (9th Cir. 2002). See, e.g., Wilkins v. St. Louis, 314 F.3d 927, 933 (8th Cir. 2002) (adopting the Moore standard); McNeil v. Empl. Sec. Dep’t, 2002 Wash. App. LEXIS 1900, at *15-16 (D.C. Cir. Aug. 9, 2002); Fanslow v. Chi. Mfg. Ctr., Inc., 384 F.3d 469, 479-480 (7th Cir. Ill. 2004); Schuhardt v. Wash. Univ., 390 F.3d 563 (8th Cir. Mo. 2004).

What protection do I get?
Under the Act, the employee or agent is “entitled to all relief necessary to make” him whole. See 31 U.S.C. § 3730(h)(1). Your damages include your lost wages, which are doubled.

Am I only protected if I was reporting the fraud to the government?
In 2009, the False Claims Act was revamped to make clear that employees do not have to be reporting a violation to the Government in order to claim retaliation:

(1) In general.— Any employee, contractor, or agent shall be entitled to all relief necessary to make that employee, contractor, or agent whole, if that employee, contractor, or agent is discharged, demoted, suspended, threatened, harassed, or in any other manner discriminated against in the terms and conditions of employment because of lawful acts done by the employee, contractor, agent or associated others in furtherance of an action under this section or other efforts to stop 1 or more violations of this subchapter.
31 U.S.C. § 3730(h)(1).

Need to File a Whistleblower Lawsuit?

We can review your case and help you file a claim. Our team has gone up against large firms and corporations all across the nation. We are not afraid to stand up against fraud.

Call us at The Wallace Law Firm, LLC to learn more about whistleblowing and what we can do to help.