Are the Rewards for a Qui Tam Whistleblower Worth the Risks

If you’re thinking of becoming a qui tam whistleblower, you’re probably wondering about the ramifications of your choice. It’s natural to be curious about all the impacts when making a life-altering decision, and there’s certainly plenty of literature out there detailing the potential pitfalls. However, there’s also significant upside.

To help you along, we’ve gone ahead and compiled a list of pros and cons to becoming a whistleblower. While we certainly can’t tell you whether to proceed (or not), we can at least offer you more information for your consideration. Take a look, think it through carefully, and then you can decide how best to proceed.

Pros to Becoming a Qui Tam Whistleblower

Whistleblowers Rewarded with Lots of Money (Potentially)

This is usually one of the number one reasons people decide to become a whistleblower. The rewards for doing so can be staggering; as much as 30% of the dollars recovered. This has been a staple of the False Claims Act since inception, with the prevailing thought at the time being you must use a scoundrel to catch a scoundrel, and all scoundrels are motivated primarily by money.

Whether or not you’ve been complicit in the fraud, you may still be entitled to a healthy sum of money. In fact, the current record award to an individual currently stands at over $100 million. However, the size of your reward will ultimately depend on the amount of money reclaimed.

If You Speak Up, You’ll Have a Clear Conscience

There’s quite a lot to be said for being able to have peace of mind and an undisturbed night’s sleep. Many people feel they have a moral obligation to report fraud once they have uncovered it. Not doing so leaves them with a heavy psychological weight that can be detrimental to health and wellbeing over time.

Protect the Innocent by Filing a False Claims Suit

Many (though not all) cases involve taking advantage of individuals without their knowledge or consent. Whether it’s issuance of substandard materials, or prescribing an aggressive but unneeded course of treatment, there are people out there who are at the mercy of the system. And sometimes the only person willing and able to protect them is you.

Cons of Becoming a Qui Tam Whistleblower

If You Blow the Whistle, Your Life Will Change Forever

Whether you like it or not, eventually it will come out that you played a role in this lawsuit. This can mean all kinds of things for you on a personal level. Unwanted media attention. Alienation by former friends and co-workers. Industry blacklisting. These are all possible pitfalls associated with filing suit. You need to be sure the risk is worth the reward.

You Can Still Lose as a Whistleblower

Contrary to what some people might tell you, there is no guarantee when it comes to filing a qui tam lawsuit. If your case isn’t rock-solid, the court may still find the company’s favor. Or, the court might determine the scope of your case to be quite small, meaning your reward could be 30% of almost nothing.