Whistleblower Attorneys Andrew Moss and Manuel Dobrinsky of the Whistleblower Law Firm File Suit to Recover Unpaid Whistleblower Award
Whistleblower wrongly denied share of award by government seeks compensation for assistance in securing guilty plea.
MIAMI, FL, September 12, 2012
Patrick Anderson, a contract shipboard engineer on the Horizon Enterprise container ship belonging to Horizon Lines, put his career at risk when he blew the whistle on his employer for illegally dumping oily waste into the San Francisco Bay in 2010. Anderson alerted the Coast Guard when the ship docked at the Port of Oakland and an investigation began.Anderson cooperated with federal officials to uncover the illegal dumping by Horizon Lines but heard nothing about the status of the case until Horizon agreed to plead guilty to two felony counts: disabling anti-pollution controls onboard the ship and falsifying records onboard the ship to cover up the illegal dumping into the bay.
Horizon Lines has agreed to pay a $1 million fine and donate $500,000 to Bay Area clean-up and preservation projects. As the whistleblower who initiated the investigation into Horizon's illegal business practices, Anderson should be entitled to up to 50 percent of the money recovered by the government from Horizon.
But, according to Anderson's attorneys, Andrew Moss and Manuel Dobrinsky of The Whistleblower Law Firm, the government is wrongly denying Anderson the award. As noted in the lawsuit filed to collect Anderson's whistleblower award, the prosecution has "either negligently or intentionally failed to protect Anderson's interests," and, according to Moss, has "split hairs" in order to deny Anderson a share of the fine as a whistleblower.
Anderson was told he did not qualify as for a whistleblower award, according to Moss, because the company pled guilty to charges other than what Anderson reported. Anderson reported that Horizon Lines was illegally dumping in the San Francisco Bay; Horizon Lines plead guilty to covering up illegal dumping.
Anderson v. USA was recently filed by The Whistleblower Law Firm on behalf of Patrick Anderson to recover the whistleblower award that the government has thus far wrongly denied.
The Whistleblower Law Firm fights for the rights of whistleblowers across the country who stand up and report illegal business practices. To learn more about The Whistleblower Law Firm or to schedule a free consultation with a whistleblower lawyer, please visit http://www.federalwhistleblowerlawyers.com. By ensuring that the rights and rewards of whistleblowers are protected, The Whistleblower Law Firm seeks to promote ending fraud and waste of taxpayer dollars and government resources.
Additional Resources:
Whistleblower Protection Blog: http://www.federalwhistleblowerlawyers.com/blog/
What is Medicaid Faud: http://www.federalwhistleblowerlawyers.com/Types-of-Employer-Fraud-Wr ... raud.shtml
How To Report Fraud: http://www.federalwhistleblowerlawyers.com/State-Federal-Whistleblower-Laws/