On
April 3, 2019, in U.S. v. EMD Serono, Inc., CV 16-5594, 2019 WL 1468934 (E.D. Pa. Apr. 3,
2019), District Judge Timothy J. Savage of the
Eastern District of Pennsylvania addressed a matter of first impression within
the Third Circuit: what standard (if any) governs the government’s ability to
dismiss a qui tam case over the objection of relators.
As discussed in a previous posting, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) implemented its whistleblowing program in July 2016 and became the first Canadian Province to include a controversial monetary award for whistleblowers. On February 27, 2019, the OSC made history yet again when it announced its first whistleblower award of $7.5 million.
What Happened in Ireland
On July 15, 2014, Ireland’s Protected Disclosures Act (PDA) came into effect. The PDA established whistleblower protections for both the public and private sectors for the first time in modern Irish legislative history.
The Background
The Republic of Ireland has less than 5 million people.
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled on a Relator’s appeal in United States ex rel. Grant v. United Airlines, Inc. and adopted the objective reasonableness standard for retaliation claims brought under 31 U.S.C. §3730(h). The Fourth Circuit joins the Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Circuits in applying this standard to 3730(h) retaliation claims.
What Happened?
In July 2016, Germany amended the German Act on Financial Services Supervision (Finanzdienstleistungsaufsichtsgesetz – “FinDAG”) and created whistleblower protections for employees of all companies subject to the supervision of the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht – “BaFin”).
What Happened?
On July 14, 2016, the Ontario Securities Commission adopted OSC Policy 15-601 which is a Whistleblower Program that included financial rewards for whistleblowers for the first time in Canadian history.
What Happened?
On November 19, 2018, the Alberta Securities Commission, the regulatory agency responsible for administering Alberta’s securities laws, implemented its first whistleblower program through the enactment of ASC Policy 15-602 Whistleblower Program and corresponding amendments to the Alberta Securities Act.
On November 30, 2018, the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a noteworthy report that the implementation of new rates for laboratory testing may lead to billions of dollars in overpayments to labs.
What Happened?
In seeking to limit the abuse of whistleblower legislation, the United Kingdom enacted the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act of 2013, which amended the Public Interest Disclosure Act of 1998, and mandated that all disclosures of misconduct be made in the “public interest.
The Event
On November 30, 2017, the Italian Government enacted Law 179: “Provisions for the protection of whistleblowers who report offences or irregularities which have come to their attention in the context of a public or private employment relationship.” This Law established the first set of whistleblower protections in the private sector in all of Italian legislative history.
