PROTECTIONS FOR REPORTING FRAUD IN NY

Office of the Inspector General
Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Two Penn Plaza, 5th Floor
New York, New York 10121

24-Hour Compliant Hotline
1-800-MTA-IG4U
1-800-682-4448

or

Your employer may not fire, suspend, demote, or otherwise retaliate against because you lawfully report to the MTA or to the Attorney General what you believe to be:

New York State’s False Claims Act prohibits anyone from submitting false or fraudulent claims to the MTA for payment or approval, and allows you to sue any person or any company that you have reason to believe is defrauding the MTA, even your employer. Called qui tam actions, these citizen lawsuits are an important tool for people to help New York State, public authorities such as the MTA, and local governments recover money or property they lose through fraud or corruption.

A person or company who violates the False Claims Act usually must pay three times the amount fraudulently obtained plus a civil penalty. If you file a qui tam action on behalf of the MTA you may be eligible to keep a percentage of whatever funds the MTA recovers.

Your employer may not lawfully fire, demote, suspend, threaten, harass, or otherwise retaliate against you for starting a qui tam action, and you may sue your employer if that happens.

You may start a qui tam action on the MTA’s behalf without using an attorney, but the procedures are complicated and must be carefully followed. Most people rely on an attorney who specializes in False Claims Act cases. If you do rely on an attorney and the qui tam action is successful, you may be eligible for attorneys’ fees plus other costs and expenses (in addition to your share of the money the MTA recovers). If you start a qui tam action, the Attorney General might take it over altogether, allow you to take part, or allow you to handle it on your own, but no matter what you would be eligible to a percentage of any funds the MTA recovered.