In an important case for the university research community nation-wide, a federal court jury in Richmond, Virginia has awarded $800,000 to a University of Virginia researcher in a whistleblower case. The researcher, Weihua Huang, claimed that he was fired after he reported that his supervisor had altered a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He filed suit under the federal False Claims Act and Whistleblower Protection Act. The jury awarded $160,000 in back pay (doubled under the law) and $500,000 in other damages.
Source: Richmond Post-Dispatch
This is an important case for university researchers and illustrates the protections available to employees who act ethically to assure the integrity of grant money usage.
If you have questions about the protections available to university researchers, contact Lexington, Kentucky whistleblower lawyer Robert Abell at 859-254-7076.
