Former employee sues Northwestern University and affiliate for alleged illegal billing

A whistleblower lawsuit has been filed against both Northwestern University and Northwestern Memorial Hospital. The case claims that the two organizations double-billed for patient care, according to the Daily Northwestern.

A former employee – Audra Soulias – has accused the two affiliations of violating the False Claims Act by billing federal agencies for the same, exact patient care services.

"Specifically, the hospital, owned and/or operated by the University, has billed and continues to bill both the National Institute of Health and Medicare for the same care for the same patients in multiple clinical trials," Soulias said in a public statement.

The two organizations, however, state that the error occurred due to a change in the computer system, since the "research" category has been removed for these consumers. What happened is that the patients were unable to be filed as research subjects and federal agencies were accidentally billed through both public and private insurance coverage.

The lawsuit also alleges that Soulias was wrongfully terminated. Soulias was fired after telling her supervisor of her concerns with the billing system, according to the filed claims. Northwestern University did not provide any further comments regarding the pending litigation.

What businesses should do to prevent a wrongful termination lawsuit

One of the most common complaints in wrongful termination cases is the firing of an individual due to race, gender, religion, age, nationality or sexual orientation. Terminating an employee because he or she refused to participate in an illegal act can also bring about this type of lawsuit against a company.

Employment in Arizona is "at will. " Still, an employee may sue for  wrongful termination even in Arizona where the termination is  for a reason which violates public policy, e.g. refusal to participate in an illegal or immoral act. Arizona-based companies should contact Phoenix business lawyers for further information on wrongful termination.

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