My Boss is Committing Fraud. What Now?

Many employees wake up one day to find themselves in a terrible situation: their boss is committing fraud in the workplace.  This poses a serious dilemma of what to do next.  Confront the boss? Report the boss to management?  Report the fraud to the government?  Do nothing?

The answer, of course, is “it all depends.”

If the boss is stealing staplers from the company, that’s one thing.  If the boss is helping the company steal millions of dollars from Medicare, that’s quite another thing.

If you believe your boss is committing serious fraud against a government program or a government contract, we recommend that you contact a qui tam lawyer who specializes in reporting fraud on the government immediately.   Most competent and qualified qui tam whistleblower lawyers do not charge for an initial consultation and they will make the effort to speak with you after work hours if necessary.

Why not confront the boss first, or report the conduct to management?   Well, believe it or not, management is often part of the fraud.  If the company is making millions of dollars, and paying bonuses to all of the management level employees, the company has an incentive to keep the fraud going.  Despite all the wonderful compliance programs your company claims to have, your internal complaint may not be received favorably.  In fact, you may make enemies within the company, and the company will start to build a paper record to fire you.   It might not happen right away.  It might happen 6 to 12 months later, after the company has found other reasons to “justify” your termination.  This will help the company’s lawyers argue that your termination had nothing to do with that internal complaint you filed so long ago.

That’s why we advise people to call a lawyer as soon as possible.  Here are some of the serious considerations you will need to explore with a lawyer before you take any further steps:

What is the nature of the fraud?  How widespread is it?  Who is benefiting from the fraud?

Does your company have a legitimate compliance program?  If you make an internal complaint, will it be treated seriously?

Have you taken the steps necessary to protect yourself in the event the company decides to terminate you after you make an internal complaint?

Has the company committed a fraud against the government?  If so, you may be entitled to report this fraud by way of a qui tam whistleblower lawsuit and receive a portion of any recovery.

If you have a potential qui tam whistleblower lawsuit, how good is it?  Is it so good that you are willing to risk being branded a whistleblower and losing your job?

What type of evidence do you have to support your case?  Can you gather more evidence?  What evidence should you gather?

Does anyone else know about fraud?  Are they likely to report the fraud?  How quickly do you need to act?  The qui tam whistleblower laws have a “first to file” rule.  This means that the first whistleblower who files a lawsuit gets the reward, while the second whistleblower may get nothing.

These are all questions that can only be answered by a qualified qui tam whistleblower lawyer who knows how to represent an employee in your position.  Our firm has represented dozens of such employees and has recovered millions of dollars in qui tam lawsuits.

If you believe your company has committed fraud against the government, call the experienced qui tam whistleblower lawyers at Rabin Kammerer Johnson for a free and confidential consultation.