Battelle Energy Whistleblower Can Proceed With Retaliation Claim

A former Battelle Energy Alliance LLC employee can continue to allege that the contractor retaliated against him for calling attention to alleged fraud under a US Department of Energy contract, an Idaho federal court said.

Douglas Toomer sufficiently alleged that he engaged in protected activity under the False Claims Act, Chief Judge David C. Nye of the US District Court for the District of Idaho said. A jury could reasonably find that Toomer had a good faith belief that Battelle Energy defrauded the government by concealing intellectual property to which the government may have been entitled, Nye said in his ...