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Publication Date

7-2021

Document Type

Casenote

Abstract

“You’re fired!” Employees across America hear these words every day. Usually, the federal government has no interest in whether or why an employee is fired. But when companies that do business with the federal government improperly fire employees for reporting fraud, the interests of the federal government and the general public are directly implicated. The implications are clear: employees suffer the tribulations of wrongful termination, the government feels the strain on its resources, and American taxpayers ultimately foot the bill.

Healthcare providers and defense contractors are some of the federal government’s largest business partners. Because the federal government is a deep-pocketed and reliable payer, some providers seek to grow their business by billing the federal government as much and as often as possible. Sometimes, contractors and providers abuse their billing privileges and cross the line into fraud. Well aware of this phenomenon, Congress has relied on the False Claims Act (FCA) to combat fraud and recover ill-gotten gains. To aid its effort in enforcing the FCA, Congress encourages employees to report fraud and allows them to share in any money that is successfully recovered

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