Friday, May 20, 2005

Qui Tam . . . . Again!

Heads up, all you employers!  If you receive payments from the federal government, make sure your accounting and billing is all accurate and proper, or you too could face a multi-million dollar hit.

Oracle Corp. announced this week that it will pay $8 million to settle a whistleblower lawsuit claiming that it fraudulently billed the federal government for training.  According to a Newsday article, $1.58 million of the settlement money will go to the former employee who blew the whistle on the company.  Oracle Corp. denies any wrongdoing.

This type of claim, referred to as a “Qui Tam” lawsuit, can lead to very large judgements and settlements.  For more understanding of this cause of action, see “Qui Tam is Alive and Well”, posted on this blog site March 17, 2005.