Judge Allows Feds to Seek Damages for Whistleblower Who Dismissed Private Action

A federal judge in New York held that claim preclusion doesn’t apply to an action the U.S. Labor Secretary and the Department of Labor brought against a Staten Island health provider seeking damages for a whistleblower who agreed to dismiss a similar private claim brought under state law. Judge Allyne R. Ross of the U.S. District Court for Eastern New York said a key component of the Occupational Safety and Health Act’s enforcement scheme would be wrested from the labor secretary if individual litigants could wave the federal government’s authority to seek monetary damages f...