Last week, after fourteen years of litigation, United States ex rel. Schutte v. SuperValu, Inc. arrived at its likely end after the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois rejected relators’ bid for a new trial after a jury returned a defense verdict earlier this year. Filed in 2011 and unsealed in 2015, SuperValu led to a landmark Supreme Court decision on the...
Dorsey’s FCANow Blog is kicking off a new series—FCA Basics. Over the coming months, the FCANow Blog will feature posts covering the fundamentals of the False Claims Act (“FCA”), outlining FCA procedure, and highlighting key facets of FCA practice. This inaugural post introduces the FCA, its history, and its purpose. A Brief History of the FCA Often referred to as the Lincoln Law, the FCA...
On Monday, May 19, 2025, Department of Justice (“DOJ”) Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a memorandum establishing the “Civil Rights Fraud Initiative” (the “Memorandum”), in the latest signal that DOJ intends to aggressively enforce the False Claims Act in pursuit of the administration’s goals. According to the Memorandum, DOJ has launched a joint enforcement effort between the Civil Division’s Fraud Section (“Civil Frauds”) and the Civil Rights Division...
As the business community adjusts to the reality of the Trump Administration’s sweeping new tariff regime, importers and other organizations that rely on imports should be mindful that with the expansion and sharp increases to import tariffs come increased risks under the False Claims Act (FCA). Given the administration’s public commitment to “aggressive” FCA enforcement, organizations should assess their risks now to get ahead of...
Deputy Assistant Attorney General Michael Granston laid out the Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) priorities over the next four years at the Federal Bar Association’s annual qui tam conference in Washington, D.C. last week. In his keynote address, Granston dispelled any notions that False Claims Act (“FCA”) enforcement would be curtailed, saying that DOJ “plans to continue to aggressively enforce the False Claims Act” consistent with...
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently released the fiscal year (FY) 2024 (October 1, 2023 – September 30, 2024) statistics on qui tam and non-qui tam actions under the False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. § 3729, et seq. (FCA). Relator whistleblowers filed the highest number of FCA actions ever, totaling 979 new qui tam actions. Settlements and judgments exceeded $2.9 billion, of which $2.4...
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced recently that settlements and judgments under the False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. § 3729, et seq. (FCA) totaled approximately $2.7 billion in FY 2023 (October 1, 2022 – September 30, 2023). DOJ and whistleblowers were party to 543 settlements and judgments, a record high, and a fifty-percent increase from the 351 settlements and judgments obtained in FY 2022. ...
On June 1, 2023, a unanimous Supreme Court decision sought to clarify the meaning of “scienter” in the FCA context, which deals with the defendant’s knowledge (or lack thereof) that a claim for payment was false and intent to submit the false claim. See United States ex rel. Schutte v. SuperValu Inc., 143 S. Ct. 1391 (2023) (“SuperValu”). There, the Court ruled that “[f]or scienter,...
On November 30, 2022, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals vacated dismissal of a retaliation action brought by Don Ascolese (“Ascolese”) under the False Claims Act (“FCA”). See United States ex rel. Don Ascolese v. Shoemaker Constr. Co., No. 21-2899, ECF No. 30 (3d Cir. 2022) (“3d Cir. Opinion”). In the complaint before the lower court, Ascolese alleged that Shoemaker Construction Co., McDonough Bolyard Peck...
The Supreme Court recently denied three petitions for writs of certiorari, opting not to clarify the heightened pleading requirements for allegations of fraud under the False Claims Act (“FCA”). The cases for which certiorari was denied are Molina Healthcare of Illinois v. Prose, No. 21-1145; United States ex rel. Owsley v. Fazzi Associates, Inc., No. 21-936; and Johnson v. Bethany Hospice LLC, No. 21-462. For...
