Hawaii False Claims Act and Whistleblower Laws

Hawaii False Claims Act

Hawaii permits whistleblowers to file qui tam lawsuits to protect both state and county funds against false claims. These two laws are modeled after the Federal False Claims Act and protect against fraud in both Medicaid and government contracts. Rewards for whistleblowers of between 15 and 30 percent of the recovery is specified in the law.

A whistleblower with evidence of health care fraud in Medicare or Medicaid can also file a Federal False Claims Act lawsuit and seek recovery of the federal portion of government spending. The federal law permits rewards of between 15 and 30 percent of the recovery.

Both the Federal FCA and Hawaii’s laws offer whistleblower protection against retaliation by employers. The Hawaii version includes reinstatement, double back pay, interest and special damages, including litigation costs and reasonable attorney’s fees.

Hawaii’s Other Whistleblower Laws

The Hawaii Whistleblowers’ Protection Act prohibits both public and private employers from discharging employees or otherwise discriminating in their compensation or other terms, if the employee reports or is about to report a suspected violation of either state or federal law to the employer or a public body. An employee may file a civil action for injunctive relief and actual damages, including reasonable attorneys’ fees.

Special Disclaimers

Whistleblower laws are complex and contain many terms and conditions. These summaries are intended to be brief introductions to the law and not a detailed coverage of the intricacies of the law. For additional information about one of these laws, please contact our whistleblower lawyers at 1-800-590-4116.

Note: McEldrew Young Purtell Merritt attorneys represent whistleblowers under federal whistleblower reward programs established at the Justice Department, SEC, CFTC, IRS, NHTSA and other federal agencies. We selectively handle client cases involving state law retaliation issues where there is a corresponding claim for a federal or state reward. In certain states, we may do so through association with an employment lawyer licensed in the state where these acts happened because our lawyers are not barred in every state. We generally do not represent public sector (state employee) whistleblowers.