A nonprofit company is facing major whistleblower retaliation allegations in a recent lawsuit, which was filed by a woman alleging she faced hostile work environment conditions after she called the company’s budget into question.

Nonprofit organization eHealth Africa allegedly committed various acts of whistleblower retaliation, after the former employee pointed out the company was failing to pay employment taxes to the United States and Liberian governments. This organization is meant to provide healthcare and emergency services to underprivileged communities in Africa.

Plaintiff Olivia E. also alleges eHealth Africa had used federal funds to pay advanced wages and loan money to employees, as well as pay contractors who the company allegedly knew were not completing the work they were hired for. She says she faced whistleblower retaliation when she tried to resolve these issues.

Overview of Anti-Retaliation Lawsuit

According to the lawsuit, Olivia had begun working for eHealth Africa in Liberia in 2015 on a project regarding the ebola virus. The ebola project in question was funded with a $35 million grant from the United States Centers for Disease Control. The CDC award was a two-year grant that was designated for the specific purposes of prevention and surveillance efforts of the ebola virus.

Olivia says eHealth Africa was supposed to collaborate with Liberia’s CDC offices to accomplish various project goals including eliminating transmission between humans, preventing outbreaks, and strengthening epidemiological surveillance.

This $35 million grant was also supposed to support healthcare efforts in Nigeria and Sierra Leone for similar purposes, with eHealth Africa required to regularly meet strict performance and accountability requirements.

However, Olivia says the CDC had concerns about eHealth Africa being a “high risk” organization in terms of actually meeting the performance and accountability requirements and required the company to submit a monthly summary of expenses to them for reimbursement, rather than just giving them the money.

The grant specifically states the funds were designated for ebola prevention efforts, and that all charges in the monthly summary should only be “necessary and reasonable.”

According to the lawsuit, Olivia became concerned over how eHealth Africa was spending the CDC’s money.  Olivia reportedly contacted her immediate supervisor, but later contacted the Executive Director of the company after the issues were allegedly not addressed.

Shortly after, Olivia allegedly experienced several serious acts of retaliation and was eventually fired from her position. These actions included blocking Olivia’s access to her email, different office locations, and important documents.

Upon reviewing her own direct deposit payments from eHealth Africa, Olivia says she realized no taxes were being deducted. She claims that in addition to whistleblower allegations, eHealth Africa had failed to pay taxes to the Liberian government for Olivia’s staff members, who were citizens of the country.

Olivia is seeking damages under the False Claims Act, which prohibits companies from using any aggressive tactics against employees to silence any potential fraud reports. She argues she was wrongfully fired after pointing out that the CDC’s funding was not being properly used.

This Whistleblower Retaliation Lawsuit is Case No. 1:18-cv-03152-APM, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.