NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Neil Getnick, the managing partner of Getnick and Getnick LLP, and the chairperson of Taxpayers Against Fraud, testified today at the New York City Council, in support of proposed amendments to the groundbreaking New York City False Claims Act and related legislation including: allowing the city to override dismissal based on the public disclosure bar, increasing outreach to whistleblowers, conforming the relator’s share percentages with that of the state and federal False Claims Acts, and strengthening the anti-retaliation protections for whistleblowers.
“The New York City False Claims Act and the Council’s actions to extend and improve it are a point of pride,” said Mr. Getnick. “I think the proposals under consideration today make significant improvements to the Act and to whistleblower protections more generally. They will continue the city’s leading edge approach in this area.”
The New York City False Claims Act enlists private citizens as sources of information about fraud and empowers their attorneys as Special Assistant Corporation Counsel helping the city to recover defrauded funds. The purpose was to enact legislation that was modeled on the federal False Claims Act to protect taxpayers by enhancing the city’s ability to recover stolen government funds. Mr. Getnick played a part, alongside Council Member David Yassky, in drafting the bill, testified at the original hearings, and was present for the signing ceremony in 2005. The city’s pioneering legislation set the stage for the enactment of the New York State False Claims Act in 2007, which has become the most robust false claims act in the nation.
Mr. Getnick testified that the city statute would be further improved by conforming the public disclosure bar to that of the amended New York State False Claims Act, which has the most efficacious public disclosure provisions in the nation. He encouraged the committee to join the State in adding language specifically enabling actions to recover taxes under the city’s False Claims Act, thereby “ensuring New York City’s ability to recover tax dollars lost to tax evasion.”
The other law considered today, Int 0816-2012, extends whistleblower protections to employees of city contractors. Mr. Getnick applauded this new law saying, “The city’s expansive definition of adverse personnel action creatively addresses one of the practical consequences affecting whistleblowers who bring these cases. It goes beyond preventing ‘dismissal, demotion, suspension, disciplinary action, or negative performance evaluations,’ but also prevents what all too commonly happens to those who report fraud … ‘loss of staff, office space, equipment or other benefit.’” Mr. Getnick also called for the city to emulate the state law by adding provisions that protect whistleblowers from being blacklisted.
Mr. Getnick thanked the Committee for the opportunity to appear, for the work they’re done to improve the City False Claims Act, and for continuing the public-private partnership that makes the Act so effective. For a copy of Mr. Getnick's full testimony and the details of Getnick & Getnick's lead role in the passage of The New York State and New York City False Claims Acts, see: http://getnicklaw.com/fca/.
Getnick & Getnick LLP is a Manhattan-based commercial law firm with a dedicated anti-fraud litigation and business integrity practice. The firm represents individuals, corporations and governmental entities seeking civil remedies to combat and guard against fraud and corruption. Its practice is national and international in scope.