Phillips & Cohen partner John Tremblay represents whistleblowers in both “qui tam” (False Claims Act) cases and claims under the Securities and Exchange Commission’s and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s whistleblower reward programs.
His successful qui tam cases include Medicare and Medicaid fraud whistleblower cases involving kickbacks, fraudulent billing and mischaracterization of laboratory services, the falsification of pharmacy claims for costly prescription drugs, services performed by unlicensed providers, and non-bona fide donation schemes. He also works on procurement and customs fraud cases. He has deep experience in matters alleging the bribery of foreign officials in violation of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Mr. Tremblay represented two international whistleblower clients who filed a joint submission to the SEC and received a $37 million award and a whistleblower who received a $20 million award from the SEC.
He also represented a whistleblower in a qui tam case alleging a laboratory delayed diagnostic testing in order to seek additional Medicare reimbursement to which it was not entitled. The laboratory paid $2.8 million to settle the case. Most recently, Mr. Tremblay helped clients file a False Claims Act case, which settled for over $600,000, against a pharmacy for long-term care facilities that allegedly dispensed controlled substances without valid prescriptions.
Mr. Tremblay received his law degree from the University of California’s Berkeley School of Law, where he was senior articles editor for the Berkeley Journal of Employment and Labor Law.
He worked as a law clerk for an Oakland, California, law firm while in law school, assisting with employment and civil rights cases. He also served as a counselor and co-director of the East Bay Workers’ Rights Clinic in Berkeley. He is fluent in Spanish.
Prior to starting law school, Mr. Tremblay was a program officer at the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor, a Georgetown University-based labor research center, and a legal assistant at the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs.
He is admitted to the bar in Washington, DC, and California.
- “Who Is a Whistleblower Under Dodd-Frank’s Anti-Retaliation Provisions?” – NYU Compliance & Enforcement
Mr. Tremblay has an active pro bono practice. He represents veterans and their family members who seek to obtain disability benefits for health issues they experience as a result of their or their loved ones’ military service.