A whistleblower is a person who discovers fraud against the government and files a lawsuit on behalf of the government.
For example, if you work for a health care provider and notice that employees exaggerate claims about the time spent caring for Medicare patients, you may have potential whistleblower action because the government is being defrauded.
However, if employees were exaggerating claims about time spent serving privately insured patients, it would still be unethical but not a case of complaint because the government is not being defrauded in that scenario.
Another example of a whistleblower case would be when you work for a manufacturer that knowingly provides defective equipment to the military.
Whistleblower cases, also called by the Latin derivative “qui tam” cases, are brought under the Federal False Claims Act (where the federal government is being defrauded) or, in Illinois, under the Whistleblower Reward and Protection Act ( designed to protect the state government from being defrauded).
These laws allow the whistleblower to receive a portion of any penalty the wrongdoer ultimately has to pay to the government. This is typically around 15-25% under the Federal False Claims Act. Depending on state statute, it can range from 10 to 30%.
These laws also contain provisions to protect the whistleblower from retaliation by their employer. For example, if the employee is fired, demoted, suspended, threatened, or harassed for bringing the situation to light, the complainant may be able to obtain redress under the law.
Under the False Claims Act, you cannot bring an action under the statute without the representation of an attorney. Qui Tam cases can be extremely complex and it is important to retain an attorney who handles these types of actions.
Under state and federal statutes, the government, not the defendant, receives the complaint first and has the option to decide whether or not to pursue the case. If he chooses not to, the complainant can proceed on behalf of the government. An experienced qui tam attorney will be aware of such procedural nuances in these types of actions.
Unlike many attorneys who charge their clients on an hourly basis, most qui tam attorneys work on a contingency basis. So if you “win,” your attorney gets a percentage of the recovery. Otherwise, he doesn’t get anything back. Also, while litigating the case, your attorney must pay all fees and costs associated with the litigation.
