Whistleblower in Georgia

An individual who is considering coming forward as a whistleblower in Georgia — or any other state — must step carefully. Employers are known for their many methods of retaliation against employees who have the temerity to report serious wrongdoing such as:

insurance fraud — including fraud involving Medicare, Medicaid, Veterans Administration health insurance, Tricare, or an HMO (health maintenance organization)
accounting misdeeds
corruption
abuse or waste of taxpayer money
bribery
safety violations
tax evasion
industrial pollution

Employer Retaliation Is Possible

When an individual takes a stand as a government or corporate whistleblower and reports wrongdoing to the appropriate authority, his or her employer might retaliate or punish the individual to try to keep the employee quiet or make the employee unhappy enough to leave. Such actions — which may include firing the employee, isolating him or her, a demotion, a pay cut, transfer, and loss of benefits or seniority — are illegal under most circumstances.

A Medicaid Fraud Example

However, a whistleblower who brings a legal action against an employer who is defrauding the federal government has the potential to be awarded a portion of the penalty levied against the defrauder. For example, an employee of the Amerigroup Corp. (a healthcare company that provides medical services to disabled individuals and the elderly) realized that his employer wasn't enrolling unhealthy or pregnant low-income clients in a Medicaid program as required by law. Amerigroup and similar companies have been discovered doing this to increase their "bottom line" or profits.

Whistleblower Received $56 Million

The whistleblower suit brought by the employee through his attorneys resulted in a settlement of about $225 million against Amerigroup, and in accord with the federal whistleblower law (the False Claims Act), the employee received 25 percent of that amount — $56 million. Such an award to a whistleblower may be anywhere from 15 to 35 percent of a jury award or settlement in a False Claims Act case.

Georgia Whistleblower Attorneys

If you suspect or can confirm that serious wrongdoing has occurred (or is underway) at your place of work in Georgia, it's in your best interest to get legal representation. Whistleblower law is complicated, and not every lawyer is familiar with the many federal and state laws that apply.

However, an experienced and knowledgeable whistleblower lawyer that represents whistleblowers in Georgia can make sure that an individual's legal rights are protected and advanced throughout the process of uncovering corporate or government wrongdoing.

Contact a Georgia Whistleblower Attorney Today

If you are in need of experienced, aggressive representation, contact us today to schedule a private consultation with a whistleblower lawyer.

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