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The False Claims Act is the government’s principal tool for addressing fraud in contracting, healthcare, mortgage lending, and grant administration. FCA Now provides timely developments about the law, enforcement trends, and other insights from Dorsey’s proven FCA litigators.

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FCA NOW

Government Enforcement and Corporate Investigations Practice Group

Persons subject to FCA

21 Jun, 2015

Ninth Circuit Holds that Indian Tribes are not “Persons” subject to FCA

In a brief unpublished memorandum opinion released on June 15, 2015, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of an FCA claim brought against a tribe, holding that tribes do not fit within the FCA’s definition of “persons.”  See Thomas Howard and Robert Weldy, ex rel. United States v. Shoshone Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Indian Reservation, No. 13-16118 (9th Cir. June 15, 2015).  Whistleblowers Howard and Berg, former tribal employees, alleged that the tribes...

Determining Actual Damages

12 May, 2015

Sixth Circuit Reminds Government of its Burden to Prove Actual Damages in False Claims Act Litigation

Last week, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit vacated a federal district court’s award of $657 Million for treble damages under the False Claims Act (“FCA”), restitution, and prejudgment interest.  See United States v. United Technologies Corp., No. 13-4057, 2015 WL 1516215, *11-17 (6th Cir. Apr. 6, 2015).  The Sixth Circuit’s decision serves as a useful reminder that it is the...

False Statement

24 Mar, 2015

First Circuit Takes “Broad View” of Falsity for Pleading Purposes

In a break with other Circuits, the First Circuit recently reaffirmed its broad definition of a “false statement’ under the False Claims Act.  United States ex rel. Escobar v. Universal Health Services, Inc., No. 14-1423 (1st Cir. Mar. 17, 2015).  Notably, the court continues to take a “broad view of what may constitute a false or fraudulent statement to avoid ‘foreclosing FCA liability in situations...

Public Disclosure

6 Feb, 2015

Fourth Circuit Clarifies Meaning of False Claims Act’s “Public Disclosure” Bar

In an important decision regarding the False Claims Act’s much-litigated “public disclosure” bar, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit recently concluded that the disclosure of reports and audits to government officials, without further distribution to the public or dissemination in the “public domain,” does not implicate the FCA’s “public disclosure” provision.  See United States ex rel. Wilson v. Graham Cnty. Soil...