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Announcing "Whistleblower Watch," Crowell & Moring's New Blog Covering Whistleblower Issues

Client Alert | 2 min read | 03.13.15

www.whistleblowerwatch.com

There has recently been an exponential increase in whistleblower complaints and enhanced scrutiny of corporate practices by the public, as well as by federal and state government agencies.  Recognizing this trend, Whistleblower Watch will discuss important developments in whistleblower law at the federal and state levels. 

The authors of this blog are members of Crowell & Moring’s interdisciplinary “SWAT Team” of experienced lawyers from our Labor & Employment, Government Contracts, White Collar, Health Care, and Environment and Natural Resources groups.  Because whistleblower complaints rarely implicate only one area of substantive law, our SWAT Team collaborates to investigate activities that may have driven the whistleblower’s report, the substance of the underlying claim, the information available to and known by management at the time of the initial report of misconduct, and management’s responses to the original report. We provide advice on how to manage suspected whistleblowers who remain in the workplace or in some other manner threaten the stability or security of the business. We also identify solutions for the company to address any underlying non-compliance and to ensure that the whistleblower does not compromise the employer’s business during the pendency of the investigation. Finally, we work with our clients to develop proactive approaches to compliance, internal complaint reporting, and internal investigations to enhance a culture of compliance and to minimize complaints of wrongdoing or retaliation.

Crowell & Moring has a rich history of successfully defending companies against claims of wrongdoing asserted under the False Claims Act, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Dodd-Frank Act, the U.K. Bribery Act, New Jersey’s Conscientious Employee Protection Act, and other state, federal, and international whistleblower laws. Our successes extend both to our defense of retaliation claims and to our defense of the underlying claim of wrongdoing.

We invite you to follow and comment on the blog at www.whistleblowerwatch.com.  You can also get updates via RSS feed or via email subscription by entering your email address in the field above “Topics” on the left-hand side of the blog.

You can also follow our Whistleblower Watch team on Twitter at @CMwhistleblower.

Insights

Client Alert | 5 min read | 12.12.25

Eleventh Circuit Hears Argument on False Claims Act Qui Tam Constitutionality

On the morning of December 12, 2025, the Eleventh Circuit heard argument in United States ex rel. Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates, LLC, et al., No. 24-13581 (11th Cir. 2025). This case concerns the constitutionality of the False Claims Act (FCA) qui tam provisions and a groundbreaking September 2024 opinion in which the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida held that the FCA’s qui tam provisions were unconstitutional under Article II. See United States ex rel. Zafirov v. Fla. Med. Assocs., LLC, 751 F. Supp. 3d 1293 (M.D. Fla. 2024). That decision, penned by District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, was the first success story for a legal theory that has been gaining steam ever since Justices Thomas, Barrett, and Kavanaugh indicated they would be willing to consider arguments about the constitutionality of the qui tam provisions in U.S. ex rel. Polansky v. Exec. Health Res., 599 U.S. 419 (2023). In her opinion, Judge Mizelle held (1) qui tam relators are officers of the U.S. who must be appointed under the Appointments Clause; and (2) historical practice treating qui tam and similar relators as less than “officers” for constitutional purposes was not enough to save the qui tam provisions from the fundamental Article II infirmity the court identified. That ruling was appealed and, after full briefing, including by the government and a bevy of amici, the litigants stepped up to the plate this morning for oral argument....