25 False Claims Act Facts

The Chamber of Commerce has commenced a well-financed and aggressive lobbying campaign to undermine America’s most effective whistleblower law, the False Claims Act. To justify its anti-whistleblower campaign the Chamber published a report entitled, “Fixing the False Claims Act: the Case For Compliance-Focused Reforms.” The purpose of this blog series is to combat the Chamber’s misinformation, and explain why the False Claims Act must be protected.

Fact Number 15: 

In its comprehensive rulemaking, the Securities and Exchange Commission also evaluated the cost-benefit analysis of “encouraging” internal reporting programs but not “mandating” these programs.  The Commission correctly recognized that the competition between internal corporate programs and a well-managed government reward program would strongly encourage companies to institute effective compliance departments.  If internal reports became mandatory, the positive pressure caused by competition would be lost. 
Continue Reading Mandating Internal Disclosures Would Undermine the Effectiveness of Internal Compliance Programs

The Chamber of Commerce has commenced a well-financed and aggressive lobbying campaign to undermine America’s most effective whistleblower law, the False Claims Act. To justify its anti-whistleblower campaign the Chamber published a report entitled, “Fixing the False Claims Act: the Case For Compliance-Focused Reforms.” The purpose of this blog series is to combat the Chamber’s misinformation, and explain why the False Claims Act must be protected.

Fact Number 14:

The Chamber urged the court in KBR to find that KBR’s practice of not providing explicit warnings to employees was acceptable under federal law.  Under this precedent whistleblowers can be deceived into thinking they were talking to a truly independent compliance department, corporate counsel could in fact keep all their whistleblower concerns secret, and use the information obtained from the whistleblower to undermine the whistleblower.   
Continue Reading Chamber-Endorsed Compliance Programs Can Use Information Obtained by the Whistleblower to Investigate and Fire the Whistleblower

The Chamber of Commerce has commenced a well-financed and aggressive lobbying campaign to undermine America’s most effective whistleblower law, the False Claims Act. To justify its anti-whistleblower campaign the Chamber published a report entitled, “Fixing the False Claims Act: the Case For Compliance-Focused Reforms.” The purpose of this blog series is to combat the Chamber’s misinformation, and explain why the False Claims Act must be protected.

Fact Number 13:

The Chamber of Commerce uses the phrase “corporate compliance” in a misleading and disingenuous manner.  In a major U.S. Court of Appeals 2014 case, the Chamber’s position on such internal compliance programs was clarified.  The Chamber vigorously argued that such programs were, as a matter of law, part of a company’s General Counsel.  They argued that compliance departments were not independent investigatory bodies, but simply fact-finding bodies designed to provide information to company attorneys.  As such, compliance investigations could operate in complete secrecy, and their findings could be kept secret from the government, even if subpoenaed. 
Continue Reading The Chamber’s True Position is that Corporate Compliance Programs are a Tool for Corporate Attorneys to Collect Information in Order to Protect the Company – Not the Public

The Chamber of Commerce has commenced a well-financed and aggressive lobbying campaign to undermine America’s most effective whistleblower law, the False Claims Act. To justify its anti-whistleblower campaign the Chamber published a report entitled, “Fixing the False Claims Act: the Case For Compliance-Focused Reforms.” The purpose of this blog series is to combat the Chamber’s misinformation, and explain why the False Claims Act must be protected. Whistleblowers and their supporters are strongly urged to read this blog series and share it with friends.

Fact Number 12:

The Chamber of Commerce and its members have argued for the past 30 years that internal disclosures to corporate compliance programs or company managers are not protected whistleblower activities.  This argument has undermined compliance programs. In 1984, Brown & Root fired a corporate compliance inspector and argued that whistleblowers who only reported their concerns within the company had no rights, and could be fired at-will. 
Continue Reading Corporations Have Undermined Compliance Programs by Arguing That They Can Fire Employees Who Report Violations inside the Company

The Chamber of Commerce has commenced a well-financed and aggressive lobbying campaign to undermine America’s most effective whistleblower law, the False Claims Act. To justify its anti-whistleblower campaign the Chamber published a report entitled, “Fixing the False Claims Act: the Case For Compliance-Focused Reforms.” The purpose of this blog series is to combat the Chamber’s misinformation, and explain why the False Claims Act must be protected.

Fact Number 11:

Unlike the impression given in the Chamber’s report, the FCA is not a negligence or strict liability law. As explained by the Department of Justice in its FCA Primer:  “A person does not violate the False Claims Act by submitting a false claim to the government.”   
Continue Reading The FCA Strongly Encourages Businesses to Maintain Effective Internal Compliance Programs

The Chamber of Commerce has commenced a well-financed and aggressive lobbying campaign to undermine America’s most effective whistleblower law, the False Claims Act. To justify its anti-whistleblower campaign the Chamber published a report entitled, “Fixing the False Claims Act: the Case For Compliance-Focused Reforms.” The purpose of this blog series is to combat the Chamber’s misinformation, and explain why the False Claims Act must be protected.

Fact Number 10:

Many of the “reforms” advocated by the Chamber of Commerce are predicated on promoting internal corporate compliance programs.  The Chamber stated: “[Businesses] should be incentivized to maintain effective compliance programs.”

This justification for the “reforms” is unsupportable.  First, all major federal contractors and publicly traded corporations are already required under federal law have effective internal corporate compliance programs.  For federal contractors covered under the FCA, the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) mandate such programs
Continue Reading Laws Already Exist That Require Government Contractors to Operate Effective Internal Compliance Programs

The Chamber of Commerce has commenced a well-financed and aggressive lobbying campaign to undermine America’s most effective whistleblower law, the False Claims Act. To justify its anti-whistleblower campaign the Chamber published a report entitled, “Fixing the False Claims Act: the Case For Compliance-Focused Reforms.” The purpose of this blog series is to combat the Chamber’s misinformation, and explain why the False Claims Act must be protected.

Whistleblowers and their supporters are strongly urged to read this blog series and share it with friends. In addition, an Action Alert has been issued by the National Whistleblower Center so members of the public inform their representatives that the False Claims Act should not be “reformed” as proposed by the Chamber.

Fact Number 9:

The Chamber’s report is predicated on a false and illogical dichotomy.  The Chamber claimed that there was a need to weaken the FCA in order to strengthen corporate compliance.  The opposite is true.

There is no need to weaken the FCA in order to have the business community implement effective fraud detection programs. There is no need to establish a government-sponsored agency to “accredit” compliance programs.  Compliance professionals and fraud examiners have researched what it takes to implement effective compliance programs.  These best practices are not a secret.  
Continue Reading The FCA Does Not Need to be Amended in Order for Companies to Adopt Effective Rules for Internal Compliance

The Chamber of Commerce has commenced a well-financed and aggressive lobbying campaign to undermine America’s most effective whistleblower law, the False Claims Act. To justify its anti-whistleblower campaign the Chamber published a report entitled, “Fixing the False Claims Act: the Case For Compliance-Focused Reforms.” The purpose of this blog series is to combat the Chamber’s misinformation, and explain why the False Claims Act must be protected.

Whistleblowers and their supporters are strongly urged to read this blog series and share it with friends. In addition, an Action Alert has been issued by the National Whistleblower Center so members of the public inform their representatives that the False Claims Act should not be “reformed” as proposed by the Chamber.

Fact Number 8:

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Large whistleblower rewards are key to obtaining voluntary compliance with federal anti-fraud laws.  Such rewards encourage employees to overcome their well-grounded fears that inhibit reporting and, specifically, encourage highly compensated employees to risk their careers to expose fraud and serve the public interest.

The Chamber’s report makes it appear as if whistleblowers regularly make big windfalls when they file FCA cases.  This is simply not true.  Large rewards are few and far between.   Since the FCA was amended in 1986, the average reward obtained by whistleblowers that filed a FCA case has been under $465,000
Continue Reading Limiting Whistleblower Rewards Would Undermine Public Policy and Interfere with Employee Disclosures

The Chamber of Commerce has commenced a well-financed and aggressive lobbying campaign to undermine America’s most effective whistleblower law, the False Claims Act. To justify its anti-whistleblower campaign the Chamber published a report entitled, “Fixing the False Claims Act: the Case For Compliance-Focused Reforms.” The purpose of this blog series is to combat the Chamber’s misinformation, and explain why the False Claims Act must be protected.

Fact Number 7:

As documented by the ERC and the Booth School studies, corporate culture remains hostile toward whistleblowers. The FCA and other whistleblower reward laws address both the short-term and long-term problems caused by the realistic fear experienced by employees who consider blowing the whistle. 
Continue Reading The FCA is the Most Effective Law for Protecting Employees from Retaliation

The Chamber of Commerce has commenced a well-financed and aggressive lobbying campaign to undermine America’s most effective whistleblower law, the False Claims Act. To justify its anti-whistleblower campaign the Chamber published a report entitled, “Fixing the False Claims Act: the Case For Compliance-Focused Reforms.” The purpose of this blog series is to combat the Chamber’s misinformation, and explain why the False Claims Act must be protected.

Fact Number 6:

ERC Statistics on Retaliation 
Continue Reading “Retaliation against Whistleblowers at All-Time High”