What is a whistleblower – Is it just a form of tell tale?

A whistleblower does exactly that, ‘blows the whistle’ on what they think or know are illegal activities within an organisation. There are many ways that big business can violate the law and defraud the US government of millions of dollars. The whistleblower is in effect safe guarding money that goes into the Governments pot. Therefore looking after money that could be used for public services. After all when there is a shortfall of Government funds, who usually has to pay? The good old tax payer, right!

It is probably true to say that the majority of whistleblowers are known as internal whistleblowers, this means that they are an individual, or individuals, who inform of irregularities within the organisation they are employed in. The other type of whistleblower is known as an external whistleblower, and these are people who inform on companies or organisations that they do not necessarily work, for but know for example, of false accounting or mismanagement of funds, or just plain simple fraud.

Am I doing the ‘right thing’ by becoming a whistleblower?

Put it like this, in a recent survey carried out, 78% of US citizens said that they would have no hesitation in ‘telling on’ their employers if they knew of illegal wrongdoings within their company or organisation. The fact that there could be a possible monetary reward and they would keep their anonymity was a major factor in them becoming a whistleblower; for some it was just about doing the ‘right thing’.

Lets face it whistleblowers are in a class of their own. They are not afraid to stand up for what’s right and are not prepared to turn a blind eye, knowing that defrauding the government of revenue is in fact defrauding every US tax paying citizen.

How am I protected from reprisals or retaliation?

In July 2011, President Obama put through legislation the Dodd Frank Act (official name - Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Protection Act). It was hoped that this new legislation would not only encourage the large financial institutions to take better control of their own financial funds and become more transparent, but also allow any individual the right to expose irregularities that they felt were defrauding the government.

Of course for a member of the general public to take this course of action, it was necessary to afford them some protection from possible reprisals or retaliation. The Dodd Frank act does just that. The whistleblower's employer may not take any actions deemed retaliatory, such as terminating employment or suspension from the workplace or harassing or using threatening behaviour in any way. If any of the above occurs the whistleblower may have reason to file a claim for damages that could cover monetary loss and emotional damages, caused as a result of losing one’s job. The whistleblower may also rest assured that for as long as the case is under investigation they will have total anonymity.

Is it worth the reward?

Becoming a whistle blower may be very lucrative; the rewards for good solid information leading to the recovery of government money that otherwise may have been scammed away, can be a nice few dollars (as long as the case is in excess of $1milllion). The normal payout to the whistleblower is between 15-30% of the money recovered and it certainly doesn’t take a genius to work out that doing the’ right thing’ can prove to be very profitable.

The laws on whistle blowing can be extremely complicated and the cases n and drawn out. For the best possible advice contact a firm of attorneys who specialise in this type of work, and a company that has a team of Qui Tam solicitors.

The best advice for any whistleblower would be: do not be afraid to do ‘what’s right'. It's much more than just telling tales and can help shape the world in which we live. 78% of all American citizens can't be wrong, can they?