PATH Hit With FRSA Punitive Damages

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:03:47 GMT

The first Federal Rail Safety Act complaint against the Port Authority Trans-Hudson railroad has resulted in an award of punitive damages. The fact pattern is familiar to any railroad worker.

Laura, a Signal Tester, was injured on duty due to defective equipment, and duly reported her injury. But instead of using the incident as an opportunity to identify and correct the root cause of the safety hazard (namely, why the railroad allowed the defective equipment to remain in use), PATH Superintendent Fred Childs sent her a disciplinary charge letter alleging the injury was solely her fault. A typical "blame the victim and ignore the systemic cause" reaction by rail management that happens every day on railroads across the nation, and is a major reason why safety hazards persist.

But things have changed. The FRSA is in effect now, and with my help Laura stood up for her FRSA right to be protected from such retaliatory action. OSHA conducted a thorough investigation, and found that no one else was charged with any safety violations for allowing the defective equipment to remain in use, and that the Railroad could have investigated the circumstances of the incident without ordering the injured employee to face a disciplinary hearing. OSHA concluded that if Laura had not reported an injury, no charge letter would have been sent.

What is interesting here is that Laura did not actually attend any disciplinary hearing or suffer any discipline. She just received an initial charge letter. And OSHA ruled such conduct is a violation of the FRSA that must be remedied. To make Laura whole, OSHA ordered PATH to expunge her disciplinary records and pay punitive damages and attorney fees. Of particular interest is the empowering NOTICE TO EMPLOYEES the Railroad must post on all of its bulletin boards.

So here's to Laura! By standing up for her FRSA rights she is at the forefront of a grass roots movement of workers acting to correct the imbalance of power between rail labor and management.

IRS Whistleblower Program and Confidentiality of IRS Investigations of Whistleblower Claims

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:52:11 GMT

One of the most interesting and challenging issues in representing IRS whistleblowers is how this promising new IRS Whistleblower Program can co-exist with the limits Congress has imposed on disclosure of taxpayer information--which includes what the IRS does in pursuing...

I wanted to pass along that Michelle M. Kwon, Assistant Professor of Law at Texas Tech Law School, has written a law review article about this subject. It discusses recommendations for allowing information to be shared more with whistleblowers by "relaxing" the restrictions of section 6103, "Confidentiality and disclosure of returns and return information."

As Professor Kwon writes:

There is a tension between protecting taxpayer privacy and effectively administering the enhanced IRS whistleblower program. Section 6103 generally would prohibit the IRS from disclosing to the whistleblower the status of the whistleblower’s claim, including whether the taxpayer is, has been, or will be under audit as a result of the whistleblower’s information, why a claim is rejected or denied, or the basis of any eventual award. Furthermore, when Congress enhanced the whistleblower law in 2006, it contemplated that the IRS may seek additional assistance from the whistleblower, presumably to help build a case against the delinquent taxpayer. The ability of the whistleblower to assist the IRS may be hampered, however, to the extent that Section 6103 prohibits the IRS from sharing confidential tax information with the whistleblower. Finally, the new law gives whistleblowers the right to appeal IRS award determinations to the Tax Court. But there are questions about how meaningful that appeal right can be given the restrictions imposed by Section 6103.

Issues concerning how section 6103 will impact IRS whistleblowers are among those to be addressed at the 2010 IRS Whistleblower Boot Camp, which will build on the successes of last year's inaugural IRS Whistleblower Boot Camp.

Rail Labor Works Together To Strengthen FRSA

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 20:28:56 GMT

When rail labor works together, good things happen. Case in point: a critical meeting last September 15th with the Department of Labor regarding the true meaning of "election of remedies" under the Federal Rail Safety Act (FRSA) is now bearing fruit.

In early September, the DOL appeared headed toward accepting rail management's argument that an employee's participation in the Railway Labor Act (RLA) process constitutes an irrevocable "election of remedies" barring the employee from the protections of the FRSA. However, the DOL asked to hear rail labor's point of view, and invited a few rail labor attorneys to attend a September 15th summit to discuss the issue.

As the attorney who first weighed in on this issue and was set to try the first FRSA cases in November, the DOL asked me to attend. What happened next illustrates the power of working together. BMWED Director of Safety Rick Inclima and St. Paul rail labor attorney Charlie Collins reached out to the invitees, urging us to coordinate our efforts for maximum effect and offering the IBT's Headquarters as a location for us to meet beforehand. And coordinate we did. In addition to Rick and Charlie, Jim Farina and Steve Garmisa showed up from Hoey & Farina in Chicago, as did San Diego rail labor atorney Harry Zanville and UTU Associate General Counsel Kevin Brodar from Cleveland.

We put our heads together. Our challenge was to convince the DOL that the FRSA and the RLA exist on separate parallel tracks with neither one excluding the other. To do that, we had to explain the very real practical differences between the RLA process and the whistleblower protections of the FRSA. It was agreed I would kick off the discussion, and that afternoon we met with high level personnel from the DOL's Solicitor General Office and Directorate of Enforcement Programs.

We had an intense back and forth for over two hours. I opened it up by pointing out that the purpose of the FRSA is to change rail management's culture of retaliation, and the way to do that is to allow the FRSA to operate independently of the RLA. By the end of the meeting I believe we were able to open up DOL's eyes to the fact that RLA proceedings simply do not address or remedy whistleblower retaliation, and that the interpretation sought by rail management would eviscerate the FRSA and return us to the unacceptable status quo before Congress enacted the FRSA.

Now it appears our efforts are bearing fruit. The DOL's Assistant Secretary for OSHA just asked to file an amicus appeal brief with the Administrative Review Board on the issue of "election of remedies," and the BMWED put out a Press Release noting the tide has turned. The sense we are getting is that OSHA now is directing its Whistleblower investigators to conduct their FRSA investigations regardless of any RLA proceedings. And so, thanks to the cooperative efforts of rail labor, the FRSA and RLA will forever operate on separate parallel tracks, where they belong.

BMWED President Freddie Simpson said it best in his Press Release: "Railroads will no longer be able to retaliate against railroad employees who report injuries and safety violations with impunity. This is a substantial victory for all of Rail Labor and every rail worker nationwide, and I am proud that BMWED led the way to this important victory." And to that I can only add, "Amend brother!"

Novartis Unit, Eon Labs, settles Medicaid fraud allegations for $3.5 Million

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 01:26:35 GMT

In an effort to resolve a qui tam claim regarding submitting false claims to Medicaid for Nitroglycerin Sustained Release (SR) capsules, Novartis Unit, Eon Labs Inc. agreed to pay the U.S. $3.5 million. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) indicated that the settlement “resolves allegations against Eon in a multi-defendant whistleblower action,” case titled United States ex rel. Conrad v. Eon Labs, Inc., et al.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration concluded in April 1999 that Nitroglycerin SR was “no longer legally eligible for reimbursement” by Medicaid and other government-run health care programs. According to the DOJ, Eon Labs, Inc., allegedly submitted false quarterly reports that included Nitroglycerin SR to the government from April 1999 through September 2008.

U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, Carmen M. Ortiz, stated the following:

"This is the first False Claims Act agreement with a drug company that sought to charge the government for less than effective drugs, and it shows that the Department of Justice will pursue those who market such drugs and expect the government to pay for them."

Under the False Claims Act, private persons are able to file a whistleblower and qui tam lawsuit on behalf of the U.S. government. If the claim is resolved successfully, the whistleblower may be entitled to receive a share of the settlement. According to the DOJ, the whistleblower involved in this claim will receive approximately $525,000.

Click on the following link to read more on the Eon Labs False Claims Act Settlement, Department of Justice and The Wallstreet Journal.

Florida nurses rally for improved staffing and whistleblower protections

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 20:14:39 GMT

Florida nurses rallied at their state capitol this week to call for minimum staffing ratios and whistleblower protection. The Miami Herald was there to report on the rally. The nurses cite research showing that improving nurse-to-patient ratios saves lives and costs less than alternative safety procedures that would cost more. The bill would also provide employee protection for nurses who refuse unsafe assignments or file complaints against the hospital or clinic. These protections would drastically improve their right of free speech within the workplace. The march was sponsored by the National Nurses Organizing Committee which is organizing nurses in Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas.

Intern Quinn McCall contributed to this blog entry.

Iceland's answer to the financial crisis? Protect whistleblowers!

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 19:50:29 GMT

Iceland’s economy has been ravaged by the international financial crisis. Rage against corruption sparked protests. Iceland's legislature is now trying to resurrect their economy by ensuring that citizens will have free speech rights that will spur economic growth. On February 16 members of the Icelandic Parliament proposed a bill which could make Iceland a “journalist haven.” It would also provide protections for whistleblowers and other sources who expose fraud. Members of Parliament are obviously keen to the role fraud played in the current crisis. National Public Radio reports on the leadership of the Icelandic Modern Media Initiative (IMMI) in calling for a slew of reforms.

IMMI is pushing for strong source and whistleblower protection, communications protections, strict limits on prior restraint and libel, tourism protection and reinvention of that country’s Freedom of Information Act. This legislation respects the work of Wikileaks, the online whistleblowing site which became a key source of information about the causes of Iceland’s financial crisis. Such laws would provide substantive incentives for whistleblowers to come forward, deterring corruption especially in the banking and financial sectors. “It is hard to imagine a better resurrection for a country that has been devastated by financial corruption than to turn to facilitating transparency and justice into a business model,” IMMI states. Hopefully this bill will provide a model for other legislatures, showing them that they can protect their economy from financial corruption by protecting their whistleblowers.

Intern Quinn McCall contributed to this blog entry.

Florida jury awards carpenter $210,000

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 19:43:30 GMT

Congratulations to carpenter Dennis Brown for his courageous efforts to expose unhealthy conditions at the Broward County School District in Florida. Brown raised concerns about the atrocious environment he was forced to work in. A mildew infested classroom made his asthma worse. He brought in notes from his doctor confirming the health effects, but officials never transferred him to a safer facility. Brown’s attempts to expose this danger fell on deaf ears, “I’ve gone to the superintendent and all the school board members, but they look the other way,” Brown said. EBossWatch reports that a jury has now determined that school officials must pay $210,000 to compensate Brown for the retaliation he suffered. Perhaps those jurors could relate to the parents who might wish that school carpenters, and students, have nothing but safe places in public schools.

Intern Quinn McCall contributed to this blog entry.

JM Eagle lashes out against pipe-quality whistleblower

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 19:21:16 GMT

Pipe manufacturer JM Eagle is lashing out against whistleblower John Hendrix, claiming that he spoke to a prospective witness and offered that witness a kick-back. JM Eagle has made the claim in an interview with industry magazine PlasticsNews. Meanwhile, Hendrix's attorneys at the Washington, DC, law firm of Phillips & Cohen are denying the allegation, calling it a distraction. Hendrix was an engineer with JM Eagle, and he claims that the company knowingly supplied pipe that lacked the required tensile strength. JM Eagle denies that allegation. Still, anyone who likes to have water arrive cleanly to their home, and not flooding their streets, will appreciate the value of good tensile strength.

My hunch is that this issue will be decided not by the personal attacks on the whistleblower, but rather by expert testing of the pipes themselves. JM Eagle also complains about how they knew nothing about this lawsuit, and were caught by surprise when it was unsealed. This is exactly the effect intended by the False Claims Act (FCA) which requires that cases be kept sealed until the government finishes its investigation. Finally, JM Eagle is crowing about how many governments, including the federal government, declined to join the lawsuit. To me, this shows the genius of Sen. Grassley's amendment to the FCA that allows state and local governments to join in qui tam whistleblower cases. If just a few states, or even just one, joins a case, then the public record will benefit from having that government hold corporate officials accountable when they try to cheat the taxpayers. In a case involving water pipes, it makes sense that state and local governments would be more directly affected than the federal government.

Live Webcast of Whistleblower Event Tonight at 7:00 pm EST

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 22:05:18 GMT

Tonight Participant Media kicks off its social action campaign for the film The Informant! with a panel discussion entitled “Anyone Can Whistle – The Essential Role of the Whistleblower in American Society.” A panel of whistleblowers will be discussing their own personal experiences and the importance of advocating for change. I cannot overstate the importance of citizen involvement in achieving meaningful protections for whistleblowers. You can do your part by Taking Action in support of H.R. 1507 which would protect all federal employee whistleblowers from retaliation. You can also Support the Clemency Campaign for UBS whistleblower Bradley Birkenfeld by sending a letter and joining our new Facebook Cause page.

You can watch the event live online beginning at 7:00 pm EST tonight by clicking here.

Next IRS Whistleblower Boot Camp Is Planned for April 2010

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 16:28:23 GMT

We have written about the highly successful 2009 IRS Whistleblower Boot Camp in Washington, D.C. The IRS Whistleblower Office gathered with attorneys representing whistleblowers for this conference to discuss in detail many of the issues that arise in representing IRS whistleblowers, persons who report tax fraud or tax noncompliance. This conference is sponsored by Taxpayers Against Fraud.

Planning for the 2010 IRS Whistleblower Boot Camp on April 27, 2010 in Washington is underway, and it should be at least as successful and informative as last year's.

Based on our experience in representing whistleblowers, the new IRS Whistleblower Program is off to a great start since Congress authorized the creation of the IRS Whistleblower Office in December 2006. As we have written about continuously in following the progress of the new program, the Whistleblower Office staff has been working diligently not only to set up procedures for handling claims, but also in processing the hundreds of submissions it has received.

Once the agenda is set for the 2010 IRS Whistleblower Boot Camp, we will say more about the details. At a time when deficits are exploding, the need to catch tax cheats is greater than ever.

Business ethics class asks about whistleblowing

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 03:57:20 GMT

I had the pleasure this evening of speaking to Prof. Jane Uebelhoer's business ethics class at Marymount University in Ballston, Virginia, this evening. The class was inquisitive, and we had a wide ranging discussion about the history of whistleblower protections, current controversies and the need for new legislation. They were surprised to learn that our nation's patchwork of whistleblower laws still has gaping holes where there is no protection for whistleblowers, such as in health care. I was pleased to learn that the class had such a ready consensus that every American should have access to a jury trial if they are fired for reporting any type of illegality. Hopefully, they will soon all join the National Whistleblowers Center's Action Alert network. I thank Prof. Uebelhoer and student leader Samuel Papkin for inviting me to this promising class. Here is my photo of Marymount University's Ethical Issues in Business and Society class of 2010:

Whistleblower faces tax penalty for misreporting qui tam reward

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 20:33:56 GMT

Albert D. Campbell worked for Lockheed Martin from 1981 to 1995. He worked as a financial analyst, and was promoted in 1989 to chief of cost control for the $3.5 billion LANTIRN project. The LANTIRN project built navigation and targeting pods for fighter jets. Between 1993 and 1995, Campbell used sophisticated analytic exercises to show that LANTIRN was wasting millions of dollars in non-productive costs. Company management warned him that it would be career suicide to raise these concerns. In 1995, Campbell filed two qui tam whistleblower suits under the False Claims Act (FCA) against Lockheed Martin, alleging that the company had defrauded the federal government. The government intervened in one case, and in 2003, Lockheed Martin entered into a settlement of both claims. Campbell received a reward of $8.75 million from the government. This reward was paid to his attorneys who deducted their fee of $3.5 million and then paid $5.25 million to Campbell. Instead of reporting this income and paying taxes on it, Campbell filed a "disclosure" of the reward, but paid no tax. Campbell did not consult with a tax attorney, but prepared and filed his own tax return. When the IRS disagreed with this tax position, Campbell claimed that his reward was not taxable income, but rather an assignment of the government's non-taxable fraud recovery. Not surprisingly, the Tax Court has disagreed. While the government had no duty to pay tax on its recovery, the reward to Campbell was income to him, and taxable. The Tax Court did allow Campbell to deduct the $3.5 million paid to his attorneys. For the other $5.25 million, Campbell now has to pay taxes, and also a penalty for asserting a position that had no reasonable basis. The case is Albert D. Campbell v. Commissioner, 134 T.C. No. 3 (January 21, 2010). Campell testified to a House Committee about his support for FCA amendments. One obvious lessen here is that if you have received a multimillion dollar reward, it would be a good idea to spend a couple hundred dollars on getting a good tax attorney to prepare your return.

Whistleblowing nurse Anne Mitchell acquitted in Texas

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 18:42:41 GMT

A jury in Andrews, Texas, has acquitted an experienced nurse of charges that she misused official information when she sent an anonymous letter to a state medical board to complain about a doctor's malpractice. Anne Mitchell had been a nurse at the Winkler County Memorial Hospital for 25 years. In April 2008, Dr. Rolando G. Arafiles Jr. arrived. At the trial, other nurses confirmed that Mitchell had good grounds to be concerned about Dr. Arafiles' malpractice, and the hospital administration had not done enough. The New York Times reports that the jury foreman questioned why Mitchell had ever been arrested. “We just didn’t see the wrongdoing of sending the file numbers in, since she’s a nurse,” Harley Tyler, a high school custodian, told the paper. Mrs. Mitchell, who did not testify in her defense, said after the verdict that she had been trying only to protect her patients. “It’s a duty to every nurse to take care of patients,” she said, after wiping away tears of relief. Rebecca Patton, president of the American Nurses Association, told the Times that the verdict is “a resounding win on behalf of patient safety.” Mitchell's lawyer, John H. Cook IV, said “there was great damage done in this case, and this [acquittal] does not make them whole.” Cook has now filed a wrongful discharge case on behalf of Mitchell and her co-worker. This case is a good example of why whistleblowers need access to jury trials. The jury could tell when the nurse was acting properly in reporting medical malpractice, even when the sheriff, the prosecutor and the judge could not.

Sen. Grassley proposes FCA fixes

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 18:25:28 GMT

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) has introduced a bill that will make changes to the False Claims Act (FCA) in response to court decisions that limited the rights of whistleblowers. The main features of S. 2964 (introduced January 28, 2010) would add administrative procedures designed to make it more difficult for crooks to set up phony medical providers to submit false bills to Medicare and Medicaid. However, in a third branch of the bill, Sen. Grassley proposes to fix a writing error introduced last year to the anti-retaliation provision. Sen. Grassley also proposes a nationwide two-year statute of limitations for retaliation claims. The national statute of limitations would address the Supreme Court's holding in Graham County Soil & Water Conservation Dist. v. United States ex rel. Wilson, 545 U.S. 409 (2005). The Supreme Court said that the FCA's six-year statute of limitations did not apply to the FCA's whistleblower protection claims. Whistleblowers would have to respect the statute of limitations in their home state instead. (Karen Wilson's retaliation claim was then dismissed because she missed North Carolina's three-year statute of limitations.) Sen. Grassley also proposes to expand the definition of "original source" so that a whistleblower can still receive rewards if he or she has, "knowledge that is independent of and materially adds to the publicly disclosed allegations or transactions, and has voluntarily provided the information to the Government before filing an action . . .." The Senate has referred S. 2964 to its Finance Committee.

Fraud up; SEC enforcement up; need for whistleblowers up

Sun, 14 Feb 2010 12:02:23 GMT

The LA Times reported last week on a series of trends in securities fraud. The $65 billion lost in the Madoff scandal highlights the huge losses millions of investors suffer as a result of corporate fraud. Meanwhile, the new enforcement chief at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reports a dramatic rise in enforcement actions. The numbers of formal investigations and restraining orders have approximately doubled. The total sum of restitution orders has more than doubled.

After serving his first year as the SEC's enforcement director, Robert Khuzami is now calling for improving the protections for whistleblowers, and even rewarding them for turning in their bosses or co-conspirators. Khuzami proposes "cooperation agreements" that could assure whistleblowers that they will receive leniency or exemption from SEC enforcement action, or legal assistance in the event of prosecution. Khuzami is also calling for changes in the law to protect whistleblowers and even to reward them financially. "Whistle-blower laws provide a powerful incentive for people to come forward," Stephen M. Kohn told LA Times reporter Kathy M. Kristof. Kohn is Executive Director of the National Whistleblowers Center. Kohn adds, "The U.S. government has collected billions and billions of dollars as the result of the False Claims Act." Khuzami's call for a whistleblower reward recognizes what works. The reward provided by the False Claims Act (FCA) has recovered billions of dollars for U.S. taxpayers.

Kristof's article notes that the success of Khuzami's new proposal may hinge on what happens to the world's most famous corporate and tax fraud whistleblower, Bradley Birkenfeld.

"OSHA Listens" now set for March 4

Sun, 14 Feb 2010 01:03:10 GMT

I previously reported that the Occupational Safety and Heath Administration (OSHA) had scheduled an open forum for Wednesday, February 10, 2010. OSHA postponed the "stakeholders meeting" due to the snowfall in the Washington, DC, area. It is now rescheduled for Thursday, March 4, 2010, from 9:00 a.m. to 6:20 p.m. Doors will open at 8:30 a.m. It will still be held in the auditorium of the Frances Perkins Building, 200 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20210. Enter at the visitors entrance at 3rd and C Streets, NW. I am scheduled to speak at 5:30 p.m. OSHA will now make live video available during the event. To look in, visit:

http://www.dol.gov/dol/media/webcast/live/

FRSA Overturns Retaliation for Reporting an Injury

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 01:28:21 GMT

Here's another example of what happens when a railroad tries to blame an injured worker instead of taking responsibility for the workplace culture that caused the injury in the first place. Declaring "An employer does not have the right to retaliate against its employees who report work-related injuries," OSHA's Whistleblower Office ordered two Illinois railroads to pay over $80,000 in back wages, compensatory damages, and attorney's fees to a former worker who reported an injury and then was subjected to a railroad "investigation" that resulted in his termination. Click here for OSHA's press release, and click here for the full text of the Federal Rail Safety Act that shields employees from such retaliation.

While The Whistleblower Sits in Prison, More People May Walk Away

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:36:27 GMT

On January 28, 2010, the Washington Post announced that the Swiss government has suspended the disclosure of information about tax cheats to the United States under a February 2009 “deferred prosecution” agreement and may seek to renegotiate the deal. Under the agreement the Swiss government was supposed to provide the U.S. with 4,450 accounts of the 52,000 secret accounts not declared to the IRS.

Basically, this means that 14,700 people walked away without prosecution under the IRS amnesty program, the head of entire illegal UBS program Martin Liechti was allowed to return to Switzerland without prosecution, the 4,450 tax cheats are likely to escape prosecution, and Bradley Birkenfeld (the person responsible for blowing the whistle and ending the illegal UBS program) is still the only banker sitting in prison.

When will the U.S. government wake up? Bradley Birkenfeld’s prison sentence is not only unjust in terms of how they treated every other person associated with the UBS scandal, it is permanently harming national and international efforts to fight corruption. Once again, what whistleblower is going to want to come forward after seeing how Mr. Birkenfeld was treated?

Please TAKE ACTION to stop this injustice now!

New interns advance whistleblower cause

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 21:25:13 GMT

We are pleased to have the talents and energy of a new group of interns for this winter semester. Here they are:

Top row: Michelle, Jacquie, Jamie. Next row: Quinn, Caitlin. Penultimate row: Ryan, Kevin, Tom. Bottom row: Amanda, Amy, Kylie, Lauren. Not pictured: Kevin, Megan, Phil.

We remain indebted to our interns for their innumerable contributions and limitless energy. Thank you.

In memoriam: Howard Zinn (1922-2010)

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:53:16 GMT

With sadness we report the death of Howard Zinn, historian, author, activist, and founding Board member of the National Whistleblowers Center. Other sources have already reported Zinn's remarkable biography. I recall how the time flew by thirty years ago when I read A People's History of the United States during subway rides to law school. Zinn's clear and informative writing made me wish I had taking history classes in college.

Here is a photo of Howard Zinn speaking last year at Busboys and Poets in Washington, DC:

Zinn played an important role in assisting Daniel Ellsberg in the disclosure of the Pentagon Papers. Zinn, perhaps better than anyone, recognized the historical importance of putting the truth about the Vietnam War on the public record.

After ferrying the Pentagon Papers, Zinn continued his guiding role in the whistleblower movement. Zinn was a teacher and mentor to two partners of Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto, LLP, specifically Stephen M. Kohn and David Colapinto. Both had the privilege of studying history from Zinn at Boston University. Later, Zinn wrote a preface for Stephen Kohn's Jailed for Peace: The History of American Draft Law Violators, 1658-1985.

When Stephen Kohn, his brother Michael Kohn, and David Colapinto decided to form the National Whistleblowers Center, Howard Zinn joined them (as did Dennis Brutus, who death we mourned just last month). Zinn remained a Board member of NWC for the remainder of his life, just as he supported whistleblowers throughout his professional life. His writing, speaking and activism have inspired generations to desire peace, work for justice and shine of the light of truth wherever it is needed.

Recent Articles in Whistleblower Law from LexMonitor

PATH Hit With FRSA Punitive Damages

IRS Whistleblower Program and Confidentiality of IRS Investigations of Whistleblower Claims

Rail Labor Works Together To Strengthen FRSA

Novartis Unit, Eon Labs, settles Medicaid fraud allegations for $3.5 Million

Florida nurses rally for improved staffing and whistleblower protections

Iceland's answer to the financial crisis? Protect whistleblowers!

Florida jury awards carpenter $210,000

JM Eagle lashes out against pipe-quality whistleblower

Live Webcast of Whistleblower Event Tonight at 7:00 pm EST

Next IRS Whistleblower Boot Camp Is Planned for April 2010

Business ethics class asks about whistleblowing

Whistleblower faces tax penalty for misreporting qui tam reward

Whistleblowing nurse Anne Mitchell acquitted in Texas

Sen. Grassley proposes FCA fixes

Fraud up; SEC enforcement up; need for whistleblowers up

"OSHA Listens" now set for March 4

FRSA Overturns Retaliation for Reporting an Injury

While The Whistleblower Sits in Prison, More People May Walk Away

New interns advance whistleblower cause

In memoriam: Howard Zinn (1922-2010)