Arnall Golden Gregory – The Fifth Circuit declined to accept the defendants’ invitation to throw out the government’s complaint in intervention as a sanction for engaging in an eight-year investigation in an FCA case, but substantially cut the damages.
In U.S. ex rel. Aldridge v. Corporate Mgmt., Inc., et al., the jury awarded the government $10.8 million, which when trebled pursuant to statute, resulted in a verdict in excess of $32 million. However, the Fifth Circuit ruled that the government’s complaint did not relate back to the relator’s original complaint, and that it could not recover any damages from acts taken more than six years before the filing of its complaint in intervention due to the statute of limitations. This case could serve as a much-needed deterrent for the government to continue subjecting defendants to an extensive and burdensome investigatory process while the case remains under seal.
Source:
- Arnall Golden Gregory: Gamesmanship No More: How the Government’s Dawdling Cut a False Claims Act Verdict in Half
