The term whistleblowing is often used in popular culture to refer to the act of revealing an employer’s misdeeds. Whistleblowing can be exactly that, but when the revelation involves telling the federal government of wrongdoing affecting the use of federal funds, it is a little more complicated.

What is the False Claim Act?

The False Claims Act (FCA), according to the Legal Information Institute (LII) of Cornell Law School, is a federal law which empowers individuals to be the eyes and ears of the government. It has as part of its elements a provision known as qui tam.

The provision allows U.S. citizens who witness fraud on the part of a government contractor to file a lawsuit on behalf of the government.

Ultimately the U.S. may become the primary plaintiff in such an action as they are the party interested in recovering funds for which they have been defrauded. As such, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has the right to take over any whistleblower lawsuit initiated by an American citizen or decline to do so.

As indicated by the Merriam-Webster Law Dictionary, the involved citizen is called a relator. A relator is called this because he relates key information about false or fraudulent claims, understanding, or facts—subject to his or her position within a government contracting agency or working for an individual contractor.

What is a Government Contractor or Contracting Agency?

A contractor is a private agency that bids and wins contracts to provide services or produce goods for public agencies that are part of the federal government. A contractor can be a sole proprietorship or a small or large business.

Physician groups, clinics, and similar organizations registered to provide medical care as well as durable medical equipment and pharmaceutical supplies to Medicare and Medicaid recipients is one very large type of government contractor.

It is not uncommon for relators to expose fraudulent claims against these government programs where contractors have billed for services not provided.

What are The Benefits of Being a Whistleblowing Relator?

LII indicates that if a lawsuit filed by a private citizen is accepted and taken up by the federal government, the relator is rewarding with up to 30 percent of the funds recovered through the action. This can be very lucrative for the person taking the risk to expose unlawful and expensive activity that wastes public resources.

Under the FCA, the government also seeks to protect the relator for retaliation from the exposed defendant which more than likely is a current or former employer.

The History of the Law

The FCA has a long history in the U.S. dating back to the time of the Civil War. The original enactment of this law was geared toward controlling profiteers seeking to sell defective supplies to the Union army.

In 1943 and 1986, two amendments to the law were instituted to Congress with the latter being the most effective. As indicated by Workplace Fairness.org, recovered funds through FCA whistleblowing have totaled a whopping $12 billion.

This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.