DON’T BE A SUCKER FOR THIS AWARDS PROGRAM
The White House revels in taking some federal program that was around long before its current occupant arrived and declaring it new, ingenious, and the best ever—or words to that effect. A good example is a new Treasury Department press release about how feds are now eligible for awards up to $10,000 if they identify contractor abuse that results in the contract being cancelled or scaled back. That is not new; it has been the law for a while. But another part of the law will give a fed up to 30% of the savings from identifying a contractor engaging in fraud or similar actions. We wrote about this back in 2012 in a post entitled, “The Employee As Bounty Hunter .” That can put millions in a fed’s pocket. For example, in 2024, before the new White House occupants arrived, the government passed out $400 million to feds and others who blew the whistle through the process known as a “qui tam” lawsuit under the Federal Claims Act. Here is how to do it.
The traditional way to start on of these actions is to contact a law firm that specializes in these law suits, such as Phillips & Cohen which has offices in Washington, DC, Miami, New York, and San Francisco. Just google “qui tam lawsuit” and you will find others that do this as well. Over 979 such suits were filed in 2024. Usually, you need some documentation to back up your claim or multiple witnesses. But another way to do this is to work through your union and let it organize the action by enlisting other employees, requesting documents from the agency, and making the law firm contact. Unions should be openly advertising this among members not just to get the cash award, but also to kick out private contractors so federal employees can be given the work.
Of course, if you are that charitable type of person who is happy with a $10,000 award when you could have had $10,000,000.00 then ignore this advice. But here are a few stories about people who got millions for doing this:
