In U.S. ex rel. Vermont National Telephone Co. v. Northstar Wireless, LLC, the DC Circuit provided interesting insight on both the FCA’s elusive government-action bar and the FCA’s more prominent materiality standard.
The DC Circuit’s Vermont National decision is notable because it focuses its materiality analysis exclusively on whether an allegedly false statement—including one made in the preliminary stages—satisfies materiality because it is capable of influencing a government decision, even if that statement is ultimately irrelevant to the government’s final decision. This has significant implications for defendants seeking to disprove materiality by showing that a misrepresentation had no impact on the government’s ultimate decision.
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