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Category: False Statement

False Statement / Public Disclosure / Relators

30 Sep, 2016

New Orleans Federal Court Dismisses Relators’ Improper Billing Claims against FEMA Temporary Housing Contractor Due to Insufficient Evidence

On September 14, 2016, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana granted a government contractor’s summary judgment motion and dismissed a lawsuit brought against it by False Claims Act relators (“Relators”) because Relators failed to identify evidence supporting the existence of a genuine issue of material fact regarding their claims that the contractor had improperly billed the Federal Emergency Management Agency...

False Statement / Healthcare

29 Aug, 2016

Eighth Circuit Determines that Compliance with Reasonable Interpretation of Government Regulation Sufficient to Avoid FCA Liability (Absent a Government Warning to the Contrary)

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) establishes requirements for how medical procedures must be performed for a medical provider to seek payment for those procedures.  Seeking payment without properly performing the procedure might expose the provider to alleged liability under the False Claims Act (“FCA”).  But what if the requirements for the procedure are ambiguous?  Will a provider’s reasonable interpretation of a requirement...

False Statement / Grants

15 Aug, 2016

DOJ Files FCA Complaint Against Recipient of Grant Funding

The FCA began as a response to procurement fraud by military contractors during the Civil War.  In the intervening years, its reach has extended and increasingly the government is using the FCA as a tool in the context of grant programs.  A recent civil complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky is a good example. DOJ sued the medical device maker...

Express Certification / False Statement / Implied Certification

12 Jul, 2016

District Court Grants Motion to Dismiss Relators’ Claims in One of the First Post-Escobar Decisions

The District Court for the Eastern District of Washington recently granted the defendants’ Motion to Dismiss relators’ claims in a consolidated False Claims Act lawsuit against Monaco Enterprises, Inc. (“MEI”). MEI provides security and fire detection products, installation, and services to a variety of customers, including the U.S. military. The lawsuit, brought by former employees of MEI, alleges that MEI fraudulently overbilled the government, charged...

False Statement / First-To-File Rule

16 Apr, 2016

District Court Rejects “Worthless Services” FCA Claim, Interprets First-to File Bar and Res Judicata in FCA Context

Earlier this month, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia dismissed a 2-count False Claims Act (FCA) complaint against Unisys Corporation. United States ex rel. Soodavar v. Unisys Corp., 2016 WL 1367163 (April 5, 2016) (“Soodavar”).  The case addresses several important limits on FCA claims. Count I alleged that certain Unisys employees were so unqualified that their services, which involved installing and...

False Statement / Intervention

4 Mar, 2016

DOJ Intervenes In FCA Suit Against Subcontractor That Allegedly Failed to Comply With Specifications

A recently unsealed False Claims Act case in Maine alleges a roof contractor knowingly failed to use materials that complied with the prime contracts for renovation of government buildings. According to the complaint filed by the United States in Emery v. Roof Systems of Maine Inc., 2:14-cv-00483-DBH (D. Me.), Roof Systems of Maine worked as a subcontractor at a National Guard installation at the former...

False Statement / Persons subject to FCA

26 Feb, 2016

Ninth Circuit holds that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are not officers, employees, or agents of the United States under 31 U.S.C. § 3729(b)(2)(A)(i) of the False Claims Act

On February 22, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of an FCA claim brought by relators alleging that various lenders and loan servicers made false certifications to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, concluding that claims presented to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac could not give rise to liability under § 3729(b)(2)(A)(i) of the FCA. See U.S. ex rel. Adams v. Aurora Loan Servs., Inc., No....

False Statement / Reverse False Claims

28 Jan, 2016

DuPont Appeal May Clarify What Constitutes a Reverse False Claim “Obligation”

On January 20, a federal district court in Louisiana certified for appeal its 2014 ruling denying defendant DuPont’s motion for summary judgment, thereby permitting DuPont to seek appellate review of the district court’s ruling. Simoneaux v. E.I. du Pont Nemours & Co., No. 12-cv-00219 (M.D. La. Jan. 20, 2016).  Central to the district court’s now-certified ruling is the meaning and interpretation of the term “obligation”...

False Statement / Scienter

18 Nov, 2015

District Court Rejects FCA Claim Against Healthcare Provider That Submitted False Claims But Did So Without Necessary Mental State

Healthcare provider Fresenius Medical Care North America claimed victory in a False Claims Act (“FCA”) lawsuit recently when a federal district court ruled that there was no evidence that its practice of billing for “overfill” medications was anything more than negligent, and therefore did not satisfy the knowledge requirement of the FCA. On October 30, 2015, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of...

False Statement / Procedure

9 Oct, 2015

Supreme Court Asked To Clarify Application of Rule 9(b) in FCA Cases

On September 21, 2015, counsel for AT&T, Inc., and other telecommunications providers asked the U.S. Supreme Court to resolve a circuit split over what relators asserting FCA claims must do to meet Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(b)’s requirement of particularity. Pet. for a Writ of Cert., AT&T, Inc. v. United States of America ex rel. Heath, No. 15-363 (Sept. 21, 2015). Under the Universal...