I greatly admire the employees I represent. Some have experienced retaliation for doing the right thing by speaking out about fraud or threats to public health and safety. Others have suffered discrimination because of how they look, what they believe, or when they were born. All have decided not to accept what was done to them, even though that would be the much easier path. I am honored to fight for people who have the courage to stand up to injustice.
“I am honored to fight for people who have the courage to stand up to injustice.”
Michael Filoromo joined Katz Banks Kumin in May 2008. Now a partner at the firm and the President of the Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Employment Lawyers Association, Mr. Filoromo has helped achieve successful outcomes under whistleblower laws, including a $2.4 million award for a client through the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) whistleblower program, one of the first 50 awards the SEC issued. Most recently, he represented a whistleblower in a qui tam lawsuit against Medicrea, a medical device company. In May 2021, Medicrea paid a total of $2 million to federal and state governments to settle allegations that it violated anti-kickback statutes, and failed to disclose to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services payments it made to healthcare providers. Mr. Filoromo’s client received 22 percent of the False Claims Act proceeds.
Mr. Filoromo has litigated whistleblower cases in federal and state courts and the U.S. Department of Labor. He regularly represents clients in claims brought under the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate whistleblower protections, the False Claims Act anti-retaliation provisions, and the anti-discrimination and retaliation protections of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and corresponding state laws. He also frequently represents whistleblowers in the aviation, nuclear, railroad, pharmaceutical, and healthcare industries.
In 2014, Mr. Filoromo and Lisa Banks represented the former Director of Food and Nutrition Services for the District of Columbia Public Schools in a case brought under the D.C. Whistleblower Protection Act, the D.C. False Claims Act, and various constitutional and state law provisions. The case, Jeffrey Mills v. D.C. Public Schools, resulted in a $450,000 settlement for Mr. Mills. In 2016, Mr. Filoromo achieved one of the first reasonable cause determinations by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in an aviation whistleblower case. OSHA ordered reinstatement, back pay, compensatory damages, and attorneys’ fees, and the case resolved after an appeal. Mr. Filoromo has also litigated whistleblower cases in federal court under state wrongful termination claims and the Food Safety Modernization Act.
In acknowledgement of his achievements, Mr. Filoromo was recognized in the 2020 and 2021 editions of Best Lawyers in America for his work in the area of qui tam law, and as a Pennsylvania "Rising Star" by Super Lawyers from 2019-2021. Also in 2020, The Legal Intelligencer named Mr. Filoromo a “Pennsylvania Trailblazer,” an annual award honoring attorneys who are agents of change in their legal communities. Mr. Filoromo co-founded the firm’s Philadelphia office in 2015 after being elevated to partner. As president of the Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Employment Lawyers Association, Mr. Filoromo leads an organization of approximately 80 plaintiff-side employment attorneys, developing educational and networking events, coordinating amicus briefing on issues important to the rights of workers, and organizing policy outreach on key local and state legislation and judicial nominations. Additionally, Mr. Filoromo serves as the Employee Co-Chair of Outreach to New and Young Lawyers Committee of the ABA’s Labor and Employment Section, which provides educational and networking opportunities to serve attorneys new to the practice of employment law.
Mr. Filoromo contributes regularly to to Whistleblower Law: A Practitioner’s Guide, a treatise first published in 2016 by American Legal Media (ALM) that is updated twice per year. He also authored a chapter for the ALM book New York Employment Law, originally published in 2017 and updated annually. Mr. Filoromo has also been interviewed by CNN, Bloomberg Law, and Cafepharma and has authored numerous articles for legal and trade publications, including Law360, the National Law Journal, the Westlaw Journal Healthcare Fraud, and the CPA Journal, and has led panel discussions on whistleblower law for the American Bar Association, the Practising Law Institute, and the Pennsylvania Bar Institute.
Mr. Filoromo is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and the District of Columbia.
