Debra Katz, founding law partner at Katz, Marshall, and Banks, shared her view on whistleblowers within the government.

“Whistleblowers tend to be very pressured to come into line, and often they refuse to do so at great personal peril,” Katz said. “I think they’re very conscientious people, and they are, in a very real sense, the eyes and ears of the public.”

Katz has represented whistleblowers for much of her 30-year career in civil rights law. She sat down with Women of Washington hosts Gigi Schumm and Aileen Black to discuss who whistleblowers are and how they function within the government.

“Typically, most whistleblowers start by going to their supervisor and trying to get the problem fixed,” she said. “And people who have that personality don’t stop. They continue to press on, even knowing that their careers may be at risk.”

Asked whether financial incentives for whistleblowers like those arising from the False Claims Act could shift the motivations of those reporting corporations defrauding the government, Katz said: “Clearly, there are people who are out there looking for these kinds of claims, because the paydays are enormous. But the reality is that the government only intervenes in a really small percentage of those cases, and spends years investigating them. They payday only comes when there is valid substantial evidence that there has been defrauding of the government.”

She continued to explain why, in her experience, whistleblowers are unlikely to make frivolous claims.

“Surely there are people who try to game the system,” Katz said. “But in my experience, people are looking at the risks, and understand that if they don’t bring a valid suit and they don’t win, significantly, they are never going to work again.”

Katz also talked with Women of Washington about how pending legislation may help protect whistleblowers and shared some of the most memorable cases she’s worked over the years.

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