Howard v. Ark. Children’s Hosp. – July 2015 (Summary)

WHISTLEBLOWER FALSE CLAIMS ACT AND WHISTLEBLOWER HIPAA

Howard v. Ark. Children’s Hosp., No. 4:13CV00310 JLH (E.D. Ark. July 1, 2015)

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas denied a hospital’s motion for summary judgment in which the hospital had claimed that its former employees were not entitled to whistleblower status under the False Claims Act or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”). The employees were terminated from their positions after raising questions concerning the manner in which the hospital billed the federal government. The court stated that due to ongoing discovery, summary judgment in favor of the hospital was premature on the issue of whether the employees were whistleblowers under the False Claims Act. The court also determined that the employees met their burden of showing that they qualified as whistleblowers under HIPAA.