On Tuesday a federal court in Illinois awarded fees of $200,000 to attorneys for a whistleblower in a False Claims Act action. Not impressed? Well, consider this: the whistleblower got a little less than $30,000. Figured on a contingency basis, that’s an 87% fee. As usual, there’s more to it than …
Eighth Circuit Decision Tilts Rule 9(b) Split toward Whistleblowers
September 4, 2014 Leave a Comment
Last Friday’s Eighth Circuit decision in Thayer v. Planned Parenthood of the Heartland favored the whistleblower in the ongoing controversy over specificity requirements in False Claims Act actions. The split had been even at four-to-four. The new decision makes it five-to-three in favor of the …
Seventh Circuit Finds Worthless Services Case Worthless
August 22, 2014 Leave a Comment
Yesterday the Seventh Circuit issued an important decision on False Claims Act liability. The decision arose out of a whistleblower complaint in the category known as “worthless services” lawsuits. Two nurses filed a whistleblower suit against the Illinois nursing home where they worked. Their theory …
Hell Hath No Fury Like a CFO Scorned (But His Whistleblower Suit Fails Anyway)
July 29, 2014 Leave a Comment
Medicare and Medicaid providers lie awake at night worrying about disgruntled—or worse yet, fired—finance officers filing whistleblower suits. After all, Medicare and Medicaid regulations are notoriously complicated, and False Claims Act (FCA) liability can carry a penalty of three times the amount of each …
Finally, Some Good News for Halifax–And All Other–Hospitals
July 28, 2014 Leave a Comment
It’s been a long time since Orlando’s Halifax Hospital got any good news from the federal court hearing the whistleblower case brought by employee Elin Baklid-Kunz. Earlier this year the hospital had to agree to an $85 million settlement for alleged Stark Law violations. Only a few weeks later the judge hit …
HALIFAX HEALTH GETS IN MORE HOT WATER
May 29, 2014 Leave a Comment
You probably didn’t think Florida’s Halifax Health could make its situation any worse. After all, only two months ago Halifax agreed to pay $85 million to settle just the first half of a Medicare fraud case. That still leaves the second half of the case, now set for trial in July. With penalties and …