WASHINGTON -- A lawyer for the contractor helping the Federal Emergency Management Agency review Hurricane Sandy damage claims has demanded that a whistleblower and a law firm stop contacting its employees to bolster allegations that storm victims were shortchanged.

The letter from Optimal Solutions and Technologies referenced Jeff Coolidge, a whistleblower who worked for a company subcontractor and joined Rep. Tom MacArthur last month at a Capitol press conference, as well as the law firm of Augie Matteis, which represents 1,300 Sandy homeowners.

The letter, a copy of which was obtained by NJ Advance Media, was addressed to Matteis and ordered he and Coolidge "immediately cease and desist from any contact with any OST employee and any employee of OST's subcontractors supporting its work for FEMA."

The letter decried efforts to "try and obtain support for his false allegations" and said if its employees are contacted again, the company "will have no choice but to pursue all available means of legal redress to recover from him or any other person all damages suffered by OST."

MacArthur (R-3rd Dist.) sharply criticized the letter and said he would appeal directly to FEMA.

"To add insult to injury, whistleblowers who courageously stepped forward to expose FEMA's atrocious review process are now receiving threatening letters," said MacArthur. "Enough is enough! I am calling on the director of FEMA to make it crystal clear to everyone involved in the process to stand down and let the truth come out. My constituents have been wronged, and they deserve justice."

Coolidge said at the press conference that he had been told to use a formula based on a structure's square footage and its construction to decide how much money a homeowner was entitled to, not review actual damage reports. Matteis was at the event as well.

MacArthur cited affidavits from Coolidge and two others in charging that FEMA was still refusing to fully reimburse Sandy victims. FEMA had agreed to review the claims following revelations that insurers and their engineering firms were downplaying the extent of the damage from Sandy on homes.

"This is nothing but an attempt to try to intimidate a whistleblower who has stepped up and told the truth about what is going on behind the scenes," Matteis said. "The graft is so rampant, I get calls every day from people who worked on the FEMA review. I don't need to try to contact people behind the curtain; they're coming out."

OST spokesman Ron Rhodes and the lawyer who sent the letter, Thomas Coulter, did not respond to requests for comment.

FEMA spokesman Rafael Lemaitre said more than $50 million has been paid out under an "unprecedented process" and claims are continuing to be reviewed.

"There is absolutely no incentive to underpay any claim going through the review process," he said. "The bottom line is that these survivors have been through too much already, and the last thing they need more than three years after Sandy is to deal with being underpaid by their insurance company."

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.