Want to be a whistleblower but worried your own wrongdoing will prevent it?  If so, Tuesday’s decision by a federal court in Texas should come as welcome news.  In that long-running False Claims Act case, the court rejected a move by defendant Omnicare to dismiss the case on the grounds of wrongdoing by the whistleblower, Susan Ruscher.

Omnicare doesn’t admit there was any wrongdoing but argued that if there was any, Susan participated in it and should therefore be barred from pursuing the case.  Susan responded that even if she was involved in the wrongdoing, as a whistleblower she stands in the shoes of the government, and the government shouldn’t be barred from pursuing the case.

On Tuesday the court sided with Susan and ruled that the case can proceed.  But the news for Susan wasn’t entirely rosy.  The court said that one reason for its ruling is that the law has another way of dealing with guilty whistleblowers.  It permits the court to consider the whistleblower’s wrongdoing when it comes time to decide how much of any eventual award she’ll receive.

The case is Ruscher v. Omnicare, Case No. 4:08-cv-03396 (S.D.Tex.).