The Eighth Circuit Court recently granted summary judgment in Scott v. Missouri Valley Physicians to partners of a Missouri physician who claimed that he had been terminated by his partnership because he was a whistleblower.  The plaintiff was an at-will employee who was discharged by the partnership after complaining that the partnership’s compensation formula violated the Stark law.  The court ruled that the physician’s actions did not constitute whistleblowing because he did not report the alleged violation to any outside agency, but merely complained to fellow Board members.  The fact that the physician did not report the alleged wrongdoing to the proper authorities made the public policy exception to Missouri’s employment-at-will doctrine inapplicable to his discharge.  The reporting of possible Stark violations to alleged wrongdoers did not meet the whistleblower exception and was therefore not a retaliatory discharge.

       The outcome would likely be the same in Illinois.  Under the Whistleblower Act (740 ILCS 174/15), an employer is prohibited from retaliating against an employee who discloses information that the employee believes reveals a violation of federal or state law to a government or law enforcement agency.  Disclosure only to private parties does not constitute “whistleblowing.”