Orange County, NY – An Orange County Medicaid worker has filed suit claiming she was demoted and transferred after she uncovered some $40M in welfare fraud on behalf of the residents of Kiryas Joel and reported it to her bosses.
HUDSONVALLEY.NEWS12.com reports that Nicole Latreille says she discovered evidence of welfare fraud last year right around the time when records first began surfacing showing that a disproportionate amount of KJ residents were receiving social services.
Latreille said she subsequently forwarded the evidence to her supervisor who, in turn, passed in along to the FBI.
Shortly thereafter, Latreille claims she was demoted and then transferred.
A source for the county rejected Latreille’s claim, saying that the action taken against her stemmed not from her findings, but due to prejudicial comments she made with regard to the investigation.
Latreille’s attorney, Michael Sussman, dismissed that account, saying, “She was simply following the evidence that was available, and quite frankly she should’ve gotten an award rather than be disciplined.”
A subsequent county source would say only that Latreille’s lawsuit is “baseless.”
