Last week, the District Court for the Eastern District of California denied the defendant’s motion for summary judgment of a False Claims Act (FCA) count against Aerojet Rocketdyne (Aerojet) for allegedly fraudulently inducing the government to enter into federal contracts when the company knew it was not compliant with cybersecurity requirements.
Continue Reading Government Contractors Face False Claims Act Liability for Cybersecurity Non-Compliance
DOJ’s “Fairyland Damages” Calculation Rejected in Prevailing Wage Rate False Claims Act Case
In a February 4, 2016, decision, United States ex rel. Wall v. Circle C. Construction, LLC, the Sixth Circuit summarily rejected the government’s assertion that the measure of damages in a False Claims Act (FCA) suit involving a violation of prevailing wage rate requirements was the total amount paid for the work. The Sixth
Relators Beware – Sanctions Upheld for “Vexatious” False Claims Act Suit
Last month, the Sixth Circuit affirmed sanctions imposed by a district court against a relator and his counsel for bringing a frivolous False Claims Act (“FCA”) action. The ruling in United States ex rel. Jacobs v. Lambda Research, Inc., No. 14-3705, 2015 WL 1948247 (6th Cir. May 1, 2015) is a positive development for companies
Enforceability of Employee Releases on Qui Tam Actions
Employee severance packages and settlement agreements often include a broad waiver of any claims, known or an unknown, which an employee may have against the company. Although such broad pre-filing releases are highly recommended, companies doing business with the government should be cautioned that these waivers do not always protect against False Claims Act (FCA) litigation. A line of federal cases has established that these so-called “pre-filing releases” are sometimes unenforceable against suits filed by whistleblowers, or qui tam actions, for public policy reasons.
Continue Reading Enforceability of Employee Releases on Qui Tam Actions
The Growing Risks of Non-Compliance with Wage Rate Determinations
A Maryland-based construction company required to pay “prevailing wages” under a Federal government contract recently settled for $400,000 claims that it had violated the False Claims Act (“FCA”) by failing to properly supervise lower-level contractors in the payment of prevailing wages to their workers. The case serves as a reminder that government contractors who fail
Expansion of State False Claims Act
We recently authored an article examining the rise in states developing their own false claims act statutes and how this expansion is impacting government contractors. The article offers tips to government contractors on ways to mitigate the risk of state false claims actions.
The full article, “The Expanding Risk Of State FCA Actions,”
A New Front in the Battle Against Fraud – the Continued Expansion of State False Claims Act Liability
Following the federal government’s example, states are increasingly looking to their own false claims act (FCA) statutes to combat procurement and healthcare fraud. This trend is being driven by two main factors: (1) the huge recoveries by the Department of Justice (DOJ) under the federal FCA – $5.7 billion in Fiscal Year 2014 alone; and