The “Big Dig” collapse has led to a $458 million settlement by contractors responsible for the Boston Central Artery/Tunnel highway project. Whistleblowers using the federal and state False Claims Acts helped bring about that result.
Of the $458 million settlement, $23 million is being paid to the United States under the federal False Claims Act, and $40 million will go to Massachusetts under its state False Claims Act, as a result of qui tam whistleblower litigation. (As we have written about extensively on this whistleblower lawyer blog, more and more states are enacting state versions of the federal False Claims Act to recover damages for fraud against the government. Private citizen whistleblowers or “relators” can receive up to 25 or 30% of the recovery.)
Congratulations to Massachusetts and the Justice Department for concluding this settlement.