FCA

The district court granted the defendants’ motion for summary judgment in a case alleging employment retaliation under the FCA. The plaintiff alleged that she was constructively discharged after raising concerns about the use of an improper diagnosis to justify the admittance of patients to rehabilitation services. However, the court found the relator had no knowledge […]

The Second Circuit reversed a district court’s dismissal of a government complaint alleging a federal contractor fraudulently obtained contracts meant for service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses. The government alleged the contractor had created a sham SDVOSB to act as a pass-through company for contract set-asides, after the contractor’s original company outgrew eligibility. The district court held […]

Two recent decisions by district courts in the Third Circuit illustrate the continued divide among courts regarding the extent to which the government’s declination...

On February 17, 2021, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Brian Boynton, Acting Attorney General for the Department of Justice’s Civil Division, provided opening remarks at the Federal Bar Association’s annual Qui Tam Conference. Both emphasized the key role of the FCA in combating fraud against the Government, and noted an anticipated increase in FCA enforcement […]

The district court mostly denied the defendant’s motion to exclude expert testimony submitted on behalf of the plaintiff. The plaintiff alleged that his former employer falsified diagnoses to qualify patients for rehabilitation care and that the pressure to participate in this alleged fraud created an intolerable work environment that resulted in his constructive discharge. The […]

The district court granted the defendants’ motion to exclude expert testimony in a qui tam case alleging healthcare fraud and employment retaliation. The expert witness asserted that his employment experience qualified him to remark on the legitimacy of certain diagnoses to support admittance to a rehabilitation hospital and whether the use of such diagnoses was […]

The district court granted the defendants’ motion for the award of reasonable fees and expenses in relation to their successful defense of a qui tam case. The court previously held that time-barred claims were clearly frivolous, but the Ninth Circuit vacated that decision, given the more recent holding in Cochise. On remand, the district court […]

The district court granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss a qui tam case alleging violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute and Stark Law. The relator alleged the main defendant improperly paid its physicians to refer patients to other, in-house providers, but did not adequately explain the details of the kickback scheme. The relator also failed to […]

This week’s episode covers suspension and debarment, False Claims Act developments, and oversight relating to the pandemic response, and is hosted by partner Peter Eyre and associate Gabby Trujillo. Crowell & Moring’s “Fastest 5 Minutes” is a biweekly podcast that provides a brief summary of significant government contracts legal and regulatory developments that no government […]

The district court denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss a qui tam complaint alleging fraud on SBA’s 8(a) program. The relators alleged that after the defendants aged out of the program, they formed a sham company to continue to obtain contract set-asides. The defendants argued the relators had failed to demonstrate scienter and failed to […]