I get calls several times a week from executives and professionals who want me to review a severance agreement that was just presented to them by their employer. When I ask if they think they have any potential claims against the company, people seem bewildered. I’m often told they just want me to review the severance—that they don’t want to risk losing what is offered, and have no interest in seeing if they could get more. I, on the other hand, am often dumbfounded. After all, negotiation is part of business—right? As an executive or professional part of your job typically includes some form of negotiation. So then, why would you not negotiate over a severance?
Whistleblower Protection
If you are a service member, especially a National Guard reservist, you may have questions about how, or even if, to include your military status on your resume. It’s a troubling question that we get frequently. We often get callers suspecting they missed out on a great job opportunity or a second round interview, suspecting it was due to the National Guard status on their resumes.
Our initial reaction matches their own reasons for including the detail: we’re proud of their service and thank them for it. To us, a reservist suggests a loyal, dedicated, hard-working, and organized individual. What employer wouldn’t want that? But then our “Spidey Senses” go to work—and providing advice becomes a bit trickier.
File this note under practical advice—because while we have a legal response, your gut may tell you that sometimes your service is a huge “plus” on your resume and sometimes you may decide otherwise.
Article by Halunen Attorney Stephen Premo published in Bench & Bar Text: New whistleblower protections were added to the Minnesota Whistleblower Act in 2013. Halunen Law Employment Attorney Stephen Premo analyzes efforts to gut the effectiveness of the new law and upcoming review of those efforts by the Minnesota Supreme Court.
Source: http://mnbenchbar.com/2017/01/reanimating-dead-law/
Stephen Premo
Halunen Law attorney Stephen Premo represents employees who have been treated unfairly by their employer, focusing on matters involving discrimination and retaliation. He understands that besides being an effective advocate, a great litigator must also be a good counselor. Most clients have never been involved in any sort of legal process, which can be confusing, intimidating, and emotionally draining. Taking the time to demystify each stage of the litigation, Stephen helps clients feel informed, empowered, and at ease.
Learn more about Stephen
MINNEAPOLIS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Halunen Law (www.halunenlaw.com) has initiated an investigation into MiMedx Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: MDXG) (“MiMedx” or the “Company”) regarding whether the Company’s board breached its fiduciary duties to shareholders or engaged in other violations of state or federal law.
On Dec. 15, 2016, Halunen Law filed a complaint on behalf of two employee whistleblowers against MiMedx and its Chief Executive Officer, Parker Petit, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota (No. 16-cv-4171). The complaint alleges that MiMedx and its senior executives have engaged in the illegal practice of booking phantom sales of one of the company’s most lucrative product lines, EpiFix, for the purposes of artificially inflating revenue and deceiving MiMedx’s shareholders. While developing the factual background for this whistleblower lawsuit, Halunen Law uncovered what it believes to be evidence of securities fraud by MiMedx since at least 2014. As alleged in Halunen Law’s whistleblower complaint, “CEO Parker ‘Pete’ Petit ordered the MiMedx sales force to submit false orders for unpurchased product for the purpose of recognizing the ‘revenue’ in the company’s financial statements.”
Access the original amended complaint against MiMedx at: https://1drv.ms/f/s!Apr_gPRDSPDNgfww6C1lM2CNA3PfKg
Halunen Law is a national class action law firm with offices in Minneapolis and Chicago. For more information on Halunen Law, visit the firm’s website at www.halunenlaw.com.
Contacts at Halunen Law
If you are a MiMedx shareholder and are concerned about your rights, or if you possess information that would assist Halunen Law in its investigation of this matter, please contact:
Chris J. Moreland
612-638-5019
moreland@halunenlaw.com
Honesty is the best policy. It’s one of the first lessons we learn, and yet it seems there is an epidemic of selective memory loss among providers who choose to defraud Medicare. Our journey begins in South Carolina where another medical provider is paying out millions in an effort to put the allegations of wrongdoing behind them.
This past summer, the Justice Department announced that Lexington County Health Services District Inc. d/b/a Lexington Medical Center located in West Columbia, South Carolina, had agreed to a $17 Million settlement. (1) The settlement resolved allegations that the Center had maintained improper financial relationships with physicians they employed and submitted fraudulent claims to Medicare. This is extremely troubling considering a large percentage of their income is from Government funded programs.
People who rely on Medicare are among our nation’s most vulnerable citizens, including the elderly, disabled and terminally ill. In many cases, this is truly their only hope for receiving the medical care they so desperately need, but many could not otherwise afford. Subsequently an extensive body of law protects the rights of these recipients and safeguards the tax payer dollars funding these services with severe penalties for those who choose to ignore them.
Hospice and greed. Two words that are diametrically opposed and when combined—toxic.
At its inception, hospice in America was mostly a philanthropic movement led by volunteers and non-profit entities. Today the hospice industry is big business including a large percentage of for-profit providers. According to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MEDPAC) in 2013 Medicare hospice expenditures alone totaled about $15.1 billion for services rendered by over 3,900 providers. (1)
The hospice movement is built on the core belief that patient dignity and respect are fundamental to providing compassionate care to the dying. When the prognosis of a terminal illness carries a life expectancy of 6 months or less it’s devastating. Hospice includes access to essential medical care along with emotional and psychological support which enables individuals and their loved ones to live as fully as possible in the time remaining while striving to come to terms with saying good-bye.
Halunen partner and whistleblower/False Claims Act attorney Susan Coler recently spoke at the National Employment Lawyers Association 2016 Annual Conference in Los Angeles. Her topic was proving discrimination and retaliation when there is no “smoking gun” — that is, when there is no direct evidence of illegal conduct.
She noted that the law allows juries to infer retaliation and discrimination from many different kinds of conduct. This includes, for example, evidence that an employer engaged in a sham investigation, did not follow its policies, fabricated or exaggerated the reasons given for termination, or treated the plaintiff differently than other employees. The panel on which she spoke included Professor Michael Foreman from Penn State Law and New Jersey attorney Patricia Barasch.
Discover more about Susan Coler.
Forged Under Civil War Fire, The False Claims Act Continues To Serve As Basis For Private Citizens To Blow The Whistle On Would-Be Fraudsters Of The Government Trust
Under a little-known law, private citizens with knowledge of fraud against the government can bring a lawsuit against the offending organization. Called the False Claims Act, the law—often called the original Whistleblower Law — originated in the Civil War era, when rampant fraud against the U.S. government threatened the very existence of the country.
Sickened by the spectacle of contractors supplying the army with broken guns and sand-packed bullets, lame pack mules and cardboard boots, President Lincoln pressed Congress for a law setting severe financial penalties for fraud against the government. The law also included a provision to empower private citizens to sue fraud perpetrators on behalf of the government. Known by its Latin name as “qui tam,” this provision allows the courts to award whistleblowers, called “relators” under this law, a share of the monies recovered by the government in fraud cases. In Lincoln’s time, the law brought corrupt defense contractors to heel. Today it serves to protect taxpayers against fraud from contractors in any number of industries. Equally important, the law protects individuals, like the Civil War soldiers fighting with inferior equipment, who suffered injury as a result of the fraud. Many states, including Minnesota, have adopted whistleblower laws to protect against fraud against state agencies.
The diagnosis: Cancer. Few words have the power to alter one’s life as dramatically as those six letters linked with the phrase – “test results.” The Journey begins. The two critical elements for any cancer patient are affordable care and a physician that, above else, you can trust with your life. There is an ethical expectation that providers will live up to their oath to make the patient’s need their top priority, abstain from medical malfeasance and recognize and be mindful of the impact their patients’ care can have on the stability of their families and finances.(1)
Tuesday, March 8, 2016, a press release by the Department of Justice (2) announced a $37-million-dollar settlement with 21st Century Oncology Inc., the nation’s largest physician led integrated cancer care provider, and its wholly owned subsidiary South Florida Radiation Oncology LLC. The False Claims Act lawsuit included allegations that they defrauded Medicare and other federal health care programs including TRICARE, the Department of Defense military health program supporting our uniformed services.
The Star Tribune published an article today about how a mental health agency, Complementary Support Services, that was supposed to provide quality services to a vulnerable population, instead is reported to have engaged in rampant fraud that “bilked the state’s Medicaid program of millions of dollars and provided inadequate supervision of unlicensed practitioners.” That private agency is now the subject of a federal and state False Claims Act qui tam lawsuit that resulted from a report to the government by a former employee.
The False Claims Act is designed to encourage citizens to challenge conduct that cheats private agency clients and wrongfully takes taxpayers money to do so. It also provides whistleblower protection to employees who are treated badly or fired because they challenge, report or refuse to engage in illegal conduct. The goal of the law is to stop fraud in its tracks by encouraging oversight by employees, recipients of services and the public.