A woman has filed a whistleblower protection lawsuit against her former employer, Horizon Pharma USA Inc., alleging wrongful termination.

Plaintiff Tricia M. has filed the whistleblower protection lawsuit in California federal court. The lawsuit was filed on Feb. 21, 2018.

According to the whistleblower protection lawsuit, Tricia asserts that Horizon retaliated against her and wrongfully terminated her employment after they learned that she was a “bona fide whistleblower.”

According to the lawsuit, Tricia filed claims against a former employer, Aegerion Pharmaceuticals Inc., under the federal False Claims Act and similar state laws.

Tricia, a resident of Encinitas, Calif., says that she has worked in pharmaceutical and biotechnology sales for over 20 years. She worked for Horizon as a Senior Director since June 1, 2017. It was on Dec. 8, 2017, however, that Horizon terminated her employment.

Prior to working for Horizon, Tricia was employed by Aegerion between September 2012 and April 2014. During her employment, she claims, she became concerned that the company was unlawfully marketing a drug, Juxtapid, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to treat a condition known as Homozygous Familial Hypercholesterolemia (HoFH).

She believed that the company was unlawfully marketing to a larger patient population than they were allowed to do.

On July 26, 2013, Tricia along with two others, filed a whistleblower claim under the qui tam provisions of the federal False Claims Act, the lawsuit asserts. Through the filing of the whistleblower lawsuit, the government investigated the allegations set forth and determined that Aegerion had in fact violated federal laws and had done wrong.

According to Tricia, however, less than three months later, Horizon reportedly terminated her for having been a whistleblower in the Aegerion case.

The lawsuit asserts that the termination was of a retaliatory nature because of her contention that she was doing her job well and was constantly receiving positive feedback. Reasons given for her termination included a false claim that she disclosed or violated the confidentiality agreement with the company.

Whistleblower Protection

Whistleblowers play an important role when it comes to exposing unlawful activity and fraud against the United States government.

Whistleblower protection was added to the False Claims Act in 1986 to prevent employers from retaliating against employees and, thereby, preventing employees from speaking up when necessary. To encourage them to report unlawful activity, whistleblowers are protected from retaliatory acts such as the act of being fired or wrongfully terminated.

An extension offering protection to contractors and agents was also added by Congress in 2009. This holds other individuals other than employers liable for the wrongful termination of an employee in whistleblower cases.

For civil claims brought forth under the False Claims Act, there is a six year statute of limitations. For cases alleging wrongful or retaliatory claims under whistleblower cases, states vary in their range for statutes of limitations with them varying it between thirty days to six years.

However, most states allow for a two-year statute of limitations for retaliatory claims under whistleblower cases.

This Whistleblower Protection Lawsuit is Case No. 3:18-cv-00399-BAS-NLS, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.