(MENAFN- PR Newswire)
, Nov. 30, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- New York, NY and New Haven, CT whistleblower attorneys Timothy J. McInnis and Charles Goetsch jointly announced a $1,318,456 settlement against Verra Mobility Corporation, an Arizona-based provider of transportation technology goods and services, and related subsidiaries. The settlement resolves allegations in a qui tam whistleblower complaint filed under seal in June 2020 in NY State Supreme Court and unsealed effective November 30, 2021, by order of Justice James d 'Auguste.
The complaint, brought under NY State's False Claims Act by a former master electrician employee, alleged Verra defrauded NYC DOT by installing school zone speed cameras that did not comply with DOT conduit depth specifications and other electric codes, and by erecting unnecessessary new poles where existing poles should have been used.
NYC, through its Corporation Counsel's Office, joined the lawsuit, according to a court-filed notice of intervention dated November 17, 2021. The City's attorneys negotiated the terms of the settlement, noted Attorney McInnis.
Under the terms of the Settlement Agreement, which became effective on November 22, 2021, Verra is to pay the City $1,048,172 in damages and the former employee $270,284 (21%) as a reward for initiating the lawsuit and prompting the City's investigation. The former employee also alleged whistleblower retaliation/wrongful termination by Verra and that claim, as well as the amount of attorneys' fees to be awarded to McInnis and Goetsch remain unresolved by the Settlement Agreement, according to Attorney Goetsch.
Both attorneys for the whistleblower expressed their appreciation to the City, its attorneys and representatives in the DOT, for conducting a thorough investigation, intervening in in the case and seeing it through to a successful resolution. Attorney Goetsch further observed that similar cases are likely to arise under the federal False Claims Act after the government's infrastructure buildup and construction gets underway, especially in the transportation infrastructure sector. As with the State False Claims Act, the federal version also awards up to 30% of any governmental recoveries to successful whistleblowers, McInnis explained.
The case is captioned, The State of New York, New City, ex. rel. William T. Marshfield, Sr., Index No. 100449/2020, Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York.
For additional information, please contact Timothy J. McInnis, Esq., of McInnis Law, at (212) 292-4573 ([email protected] ) or Charles Goetsch, Esq., of Charles Goetsch Law Offices, LLC at (203) 672-1370 ([email protected] @gowhistleblower.com).
SOURCE McInnis Law
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