Established in 1988, the National Whistleblower Legal Defense and Education Fund (“the Fund”) is a non-profit public interest law firm that works in conjunction with the National Whistleblower Center. The attorneys for the Fund represent employee whistleblowers who have reported malfeasance in private corporations and government agencies.
Whistleblowers represented by the attorneys for the fund have:
Exposed Billions of Dollars in Corruption
Ms. Bunnatine Greenhouse, the former top contracting officer for the Army Corps of Engineers was harassed and demoted when she blew the whistle on a sole-source, 5 year, $7 billion, “emergency” contract that was improperly awarded to Halliburton/KBR in the run-up to the Iraq war. Her actions put illegal contracting procedures squarely in the spotlight, but now she is fighting for her professional life in Federal Court.
Recovered Hundreds of Millions of Dollars for The Taxpayers
Attorneys for the Fund represent whistleblowers who file Qui Tam (False Claims Act) suits against government contractors who commit fraud. Most recently, the Fund’s attorneys represented a whistleblower who witnessed substantial Medicaid fraud while working for Bristol Meyers Squibb; his disclosures resulted in over $500 million recovered for the American taxpayers.
Put Criminals Out of Business and Behind Bars
Employees, like Dan L’allier, who blew the whistle on Kieger Enterprises for stealing supplies and debris from “Ground Zero” in order to resell it, have worked with the Fund to hold the owners and managers accountable for their unscrupulous behavior, and to put Kieger out of business.
Saved the Lives of Soldiers and Police Officers
Dr. Aaron Westrick, a former police officer who went to work for Second Chance Body Armor, blew the whistle on his employer for knowingly selling hundreds of thousands of defective bullet-proof vests to U.S. military and law enforcement agencies. The company was eventually forced to pull the vests from the market, and Dr. Westrick’s actions saved countless lives.
For additional information on the history and accomplishments of the NWLDEF and it’s sister organization, the National Whistleblower Center, please click here.
The National Whistleblower Legal Defense and Education Fund is a public interest law firm which works in conjunction with the National Whistleblower Center. The Fund’s legal cases are managed by four attorney-trustees.
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Since 1984, Mr. Kohn has successfully represented whistleblowers in numerous cases (both at trial and on appeal), has testified in Congress on behalf of whistleblower reforms and worked directly with the staff of the Senate Judiciary Committee on drafting the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate whistleblower protections. He has successfully litigated many of the nation’s landmark precedents establishing whistleblower rights and has represented whistleblowers in numeorus high-profile cases, including the O.J. Simpson murder case, the World Trade Center bombing cases, the Oklahoma City bombing case and the Linda Tripp-Privacy Act case.
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Mr. Kohn is a nationally recognized litigator, focusing on whistleblower protection and False Claims Act/qui tam claims. He served as lead council in the case of Georgia Power Co. v. USDOL (11th Cir. 2002) in which a high-level nuclear whistleblower was awarded reinstatement and $4.5 million in damages, as well as Jayko v. Ohio Environmental Protection Agency ( Labor ALJ 2000), in which a whistleblower who discovered that several school buildings had been built on a “cancer cluster” was ordered reinstated into his job and awarded substantial damages.
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Mr. Colapinto is a nationally recognized whistleblower advocate, with an expertise in government fraud and False Claims Act qui tam cases as well as whistleblower protection laws. He represented one of the whistleblowers who reported allegations of massive health care fraud by Bristol Myers Squibb Co., resulting in a $515 million recovery for the taxpayers in a settlement under the False Claims Act. He also successfully litigated several whistleblower cases and won the first precedent for a hostile work environment under the federal environmental whistleblower protection statutes.
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Ms. Wilmoth has been an instrumental figure in defending whistleblower rights in complex NRC licensing and enforcement proceedings and EPA whistleblowers before the DOL. As the first public interest fellow hired by the National Whistleblower Center in 1994, she has developed expertise in environmental/nuclear whistleblower law. Ms. Wilmoth also serves as Program Director of the National Whistleblower Center.
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Ms. Kohn is the Deputy Director of the Fund, responsible for managing the Fund’s national Attorney Referral Service (ARS), law clerk program and Continuing Legal Education seminars. Ms. Kohn also serves as the Deputy Director of the National Whistleblower Center, responsible for its highly respected nation-wide public interest student internship program. The program brings over 60 students each year to Washington, D.C., to work on a one-on-one basis with experienced attorneys in the field of whistleblower law and advocacy. She is also the administrator of the National Whistleblower Center’s Speakers’ Bureau.
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Mr. Munter is the staff attorney responsible for managing the Fund’s “Report Fraud Now” program. He specializes in False Claims Act and qui tam litigation on behalf of whistleblowers. In 2005, he successfully appealed the case of Andrewes v. U.S. INS, 141 Fed.Appx. 98 before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit.
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Whistleblowers risk everything for us, and they need our help. You can help courageous whistleblowers obtain the justice that they deserve.
The National Whistleblower Center is a non-profit, non-partisan, tax-exempt,501(c)(3) organization that operates solely to advocate for whistleblower rights. Your donation will fund projects and programs designed to protect whistleblowers and build grassroots support for whistleblower issues.
Please Donate Now to make America a safer place for whistleblowers.
**For those interested in donating through the Combined Federal Campaign, our CFC# is 10222
National Whistleblower Legal Defense & Education Fund
3238 P Street, NW
Washington, DC 20007
Phone: 202-342-1903
Email:
Website: http://www.whistleblowers.org/
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