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History teaches that as in previous national crises, the funds appropriated through the CARES Act will be beset by fraud of every kind imaginable. America’s workers, and particularly the essential healthcare workers on the front lines of the pandemic, are uniquely situated to witness, detect, prevent and report COVID-19-related fraud on the government by taking advantage of the rights and protections afforded whistleblowers by the False Claims Act (FCA).

Since the beginning of this year, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of the Whistleblower (OWB) has issued approximately $64 million in whistleblower awards to 12 whistleblowers who reported information to the SEC that either caused it to open an investigation or substantially assisted in an ongoing investigation.

Over the course of last week, we explored how past work-related tragedies shaped and were often a catalyst for safety policies, many of which continue to protect workers to this day. We also examined the challenges and limitations that affect today’s workers – especially now as the world continues to find its way through this unprecedented pandemic. Now that Workers’ Memorial Week 2020 has come to a close, we’re reminded just how uncertain the future remains for workers.

In the workplace, employees’ knowledge of their rights not only empowers them, but helps to promote transparency, safety regulations and their civil liberties. In honor of Workers’ Memorial Week it is important to apply the lessons we have learned in the past and exercise workers’ rights, especially now as medical personnel, food plant workers and others are facing increased risks from COVID-19 and, in some situations, a lack of adequate personal safety equipment and appropriate working conditions.

Ensuring a safe work environment is, and always has been, everyone’s business. That’s why each year during the last week of April, advocacy groups across the country unite to recognize Workers’ Memorial Week – a time to remember those killed or injured on the job and reflect on the pivotal events that have shaped work culture.

There are steps that you can take and questions that you can ask to help ease your fears and provide insight on your loved one’s care and needs during this troubling time.

1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys will suffer sexual abuse by an adult before they turn 18, according to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center. For many, their abuse is a secret that weighs heavily, well into adulthood, even as abusers walk free and the institutions that enabled the abuse are not held accountable. New “lookback window” laws enacted in several states throughout the country seek to give adult victims of childhood sexual abuse a stronger voice and an opportunity to hold their abusers and abuse enablers accountable in civil court.

Recognizing the success of the SEC and CFTC whistleblower programs, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently proposed that Congress amend the Dodd-Frank Act to add a whistleblower program that rewards whistleblowers who provide information regarding possible consumer protection law violations.

Each year during the first full week of March, the Federal Trade Commission pauses to recognize National Consumer Protection Week, an occasion that it describes as “a time to help people understand their consumer rights and make well-informed decisions about money.”

2010-2019 taught all of us a great deal, and changes over the course of the decade shape the way we practice law today. Advancements in technology modernized the judiciary and have helped to expedite certain parts of the litigation process, such as discovery. The speed in which information is shared online would have been unfathomable when Ron Motley and I first started litigating asbestos cases.