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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Posts
    3

    Default Wrongful Termination and Whistleblower Laws

    I知 concerned about a wrongful termination of my employment even though I知 currently still employed. This is a complicated situation and I will spare all the details that span several years, these are the issues: (1) I work for a government contractor at a military base in New Mexico (2) the company I work for is in the final stages of a contact re-compete-bid for this contract, typical resulting in upper management change (3) I have documented information that highlights my employer of, what I deem to be, fraud, waste, and abuse of government funds and equipment, to the tune of several millions of dollars, (4) I know that I may have "whistle blower" status and currently I have not taken any action on any of these issues. (5) If I were to exercise the "whistle blower protection" I would not only place the company at risk of losing a $85 Million contract, I also risk my own employment with long term repercussions and this is regardless of who wins the contract. (6) My employer knows that I have this information, as I asked to be removed from any projects in which utilized questionable dealings, that I could not take part in. (7) My employer also knows, that if he were to terminate me now, before the contract is renewed, I would report all these dirty details to the appropriate authorities. This is true and I will the minute that I知 not depending on them for a paycheck and this brings me back to issue 5 above. (8) My employer also knows that I am a senior enough manager to undermine their contract bid, if I were to talk to the competition for this contract. (9) To this point I have never compromised my employers trust. However, he decided to make sure and short of termination, the farther away from the contract bidding he could get me the better. I was conveniently reassigned to Hawaii for Temporary duty (for an extended period of time). This position is one, for which I am grossly over qualified. This was presented as my only option to staying employed. I had to accept a 50% cut in salary for an hourly wage position. This being temporary, my pay was being augmented by Per Diem rates for Hawaii. I accepted this over the alterative - termination. Now, I致e been temporary for nearly a year, at which time, I will have to assume a low salary position, due to the One Year Tax Rule, as it pertains to Per Diem funds. Next week is the presentation stage of the contract and the contract is due to announce in February 2008. I am told that I need to stay in the temporary duty status longer because there is no work for me otherwise.

    My only options are: to accept a 50% pay cut in a lower status position at the military base, main office or stay TDY in Hawaii with considerable tax implications. None of which I知 willing to do. Therefore, this may force my termination. There is no getting away from my "whistle blower" I feel it is my civil duty. But I have done nothing wrong and I feel all of this is leading to my wrongful termination. I also think the way that my position has been degraded will hurt me with the new employer whoever the winners are for this contract. If I知 not allowed to stay with the contract due to termination, I lose my negotiating position for a decent salary altogether. None of which is fair. My only fault is not partaking in what I considered fraud, waste, and abuse of government funds and equipment.

    This is complicated I know, but do I have a case? Any advice is welcome.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Michigan
    Posts
    28,906

    Default Re: I知 concerned about a wrongful termination

    Whisteblower protections apply after you report misconduct, not before you report it. If you are terminated for reporting your employer's misconduct to a legal or regulatory authority, such that a whistleblower law applies, you can seek legal recourse under the applicable whistleblower law(s). Be aware that the statute of limitations on a whistleblower claim can be extremely short - sometimes in the range of thirty to ninety days.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Posts
    3

    Default Re: I知 concerned about a wrongful termination

    Okay, not the answer I was expecting. However, thank you very much; I did not know how short the statutes of limitations were. Considering, I’m on a fast track to termination regardless of what I do.

    So as I understand it, my legal action is to report the misconduct as an employee and then file fraud against the government in a qui tam lawsuit for defense contractor fraud. From what I can tell, whistleblowers are entitled to a reward of anywhere from 15 to 30 percent of the money recovered by the government.

    Interesting, I’m fuzzy on the employment aspects of what the whistleblower protection provides, after filing, win or lose this lawsuit. There is no guarantee that any money will be recovered. My opinion, my current employer is on their last leg anyway and I predict they will lose their re-bid efforts and a new company with new management will take over. My struggle is staying employed long enough for that to happen. If I can still be terminated At-Will, I will lose eight years seniority and be released at 50% of my highest salary level. I’m 52 years old and not quite ready to retire, besides the fact that I’m damn good at what I do. Unemployment benefits in this state would not be a viable option in my case.

    So the question is: When do I talk to an attorney?

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Michigan
    Posts
    28,906

    Default Re: I知 concerned about a wrongful termination

    Any time you wish. Perhaps in the morning.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Posts
    200

    Default Re: Wrongful Termination and Whistleblower Laws

    Under which whistleblower law do you think you have protection? You haven't indicated any activity on your part that would give you protection under the False Claims Act.

    Your recitation simply indicates that you were aware of or suspected improprieties, compiled documentation that you think supports them and sat on it, informing no authority. You believe that your employer is aware that you have the documentation. A year ago, you accepted reassignment from the questionable contract to a lower paying and skilled position in Hawaii with significant tax implications. Apparently you have been offered continued employment with your employer at the military base or main office but at a lower pay. All of this has already occurred. It's unclear to me how reporting the improprieties now will undo any of that or make it retaliatory.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Posts
    3

    Default Re: Wrongful Termination and Whistleblower Laws

    The improprieties continue to this day. In hindsight, I should have reported it long ago; I may have saved the government money. What I did was distant myself and informed higher management, that what the company was doing was wrong. It is complicate, but as a Project Manager I was asked to save a major project and became the lead. After working several months on this project, I finely found out why it was in so much trouble, which was only the start of what I witnessed as improprieties. I’m a damn good Project Manager and I could have fixed/saved this project and still made a profit. But there are right-ways and fraudulent-ways to fix problems. I asked to be removed from this project, after management refused to correct the improprieties that I noted. At the time, I considered this the best thing to do and it was a very tough decision. The project went from bad to worse as upper management took direct control of this project. However this was only the start of a greedy rampage of other project improprieties. But you are correct; it is all my opinion and an investigation is needed to determine if fraud has occurred or not. In the meantime, I opened myself up to a downgrade of my position along with my pay. Management’s decisions were retaliatory, regardless of what you think, just not illegal.

    You asked why now? The answer is; It is the only hand I have left to play. It is also the right thing to do to protect government assets.

    You asked if I think I have whistleblower protection: Well, not yet, but I will, I have little to lose at this point. I have a remote chance of gaining with this lawsuit. But the company will lose regardless, if a government investigation is part of the solution. Timing is everything and my employment with this company is almost over and there is little I can do to change that.

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