John Gravitt

John Gravitt worked for GE Electric as a machinist after coming back from the Vietnam War. As he continued to work at GE, he was eventually promoted to foreman. Being foreman, the big wigs at the company began to increasingly place more responsibilities on him. One of the things they asked him to do is to comply with falsifying financial reports in order obtain more money from the federal government. For a while, Gravitt went along with this plan. As time went on, though, he realized how unjust GE's actions were. Gravitt wrote a 60-page letter complaining about the unjust actions they were taking, and was fired. Upon digging into options, Cincinnati lawyer James B. Helmer rediscovered the False Claims Act of 1863, in which persons who report an act of fraud can collect up to 25% court award. A year after filing the False Claims Act, the Justice Department and GE came to an agreement to settle for just a portion of what Gravitt's lawyer said they owe and would maintain that they are not guilty. Cincinnati's federal judge rejected this proposal, and gave the Justice Department a slap on the wrist for failure to completely investigate the claim. Finally, GE settled in 1989 for (reportedly) $4.7 million. After Gravitt testified in Congress, the False Claims Act was amended to grant whistleblowers more power and protection.

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References:

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-mar-08-me-35093-story.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_whistleblowers