On May 28, 2021, a District of Maine judge granted a joint motion for stipulated judgment in favor of the United States, ending the False Claims Act suit against a Coast Guard contractor hired to assist with the excavation of a World War II-era airplane crash site. United States of America v. Luciano A. Sapienza, et al., No. 2:21-cv-00073-NT (Me.). As alleged in the amended...
On June 28, 2021, the United States Supreme Court denied review of a Seventh Circuit decision affirming the Department of Justice (“DOJ”)-requested dismissal of a False Claims Act (“FCA”) suit alleging a drug kickback scheme. Cimznhca LLC v. United States, No. 20-1138, 2021 U.S. LEXIS 3404 (June 28, 2021). As a result, the circuit split regarding the standard that applies to a Government’s motion to...
Walmart successfully ended eight years of protracted litigation under the False Claims Act (“FCA”) on June 4, 2021, when the Sixth Circuit affirmed dismissal of Medicare and Medicaid fraud allegations against the major retailer. The case was first filed in February 2013. See United States ex rel. Sheoran v. Wal-Mart Stores E., No. 13-10568, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 140710, at *2 (E.D. Mich. Aug. 20,...
On April 30, 2021, a Northern District of Texas judge denied a motion to dismiss an FCA qui tam action alleging “a fraudulent scheme to obtain Government subcontracting opportunities reserved for eligible small businesses under the Small Business Act.” United States ex rel. Haight v. RRSA (Commer. Div), LLC, 3:16-CV-1975-S, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 82894, at *1-4 (N.D. Tex. Apr. 30, 2021). In the complaint,...
A federal judge recently ruled that submission of electronic data to the government can, under appropriate circumstances, give rise to liability under the False Claims Act. In U.S. ex rel. Marc Silver et al. v. Omnicare Inc. et al., 1:11-cv-01326 (D.N.J. Apr. 13, 2021), U.S. District Court Judge Noel C. Hillman granted a relator’s motion to amend his complaint to assert FCA claims premised on...
Over a vigorous dissent last week, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit vacated a ruling from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan and held the False Claims Act’s anti-retaliation provision protects former employees alleging post-termination retaliation. United States ex rel. Felten v. William Beaumont Hosp., No. 20-1002, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 9387 (6th Cir. Mar....
On March 19, 2021, a Southern District of New York judge denied a motion to dismiss a False Claims Act (“FCA”) suit alleging that Omnicare—a subsidiary of CVS Health Corp.—“dispensed drugs based on invalid prescriptions to potentially tens of thousands of individuals living at more than 3,000 residential facilities.” See United States ex rel. Bassan v. Omnicare, Inc., No. 1:15-cv-4179 (CM), 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS...
A former employee of Great Dane Petroleum Contractors, Inc. a full-service Pollutant Control and General Contractor based in Florida, alleged in a recently-filed lawsuit that the company misused nearly $3 million in Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) funds. See Rucker v. Great Dane Petroleum Contractors, Inc., No. 21-cv-207 (M.D. Fla. Mar. 10, 2021). As another wave of applications for PPP funds come in, employers must remain...
On February 22, 2021, the United States Supreme Court declined to resolve a circuit split regarding the proper standard under which False Claims Act (“FCA”) claims in the medical context should be reviewed. See Care Alternatives v. United States, No. 20-371, 2021 U.S. LEXIS 915 (Feb. 22, 2021). The Court’s decision leaves open the question of what constitutes “falsity” under the FCA and opens the...
On February 3, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah granted a motion for attorneys’ fees against Plaintiff Kelly Sorenson (“Sorenson”), finding that the claims Sorenson asserted against his former employer under the False Claims Act (“FCA”) were “clearly frivolous” and compensable under 31 U.S.C. § 3730(d)(4). United States ex rel. Sorenson v. Wadsworth Bros. Constr. Co., No. 2:16-cv-875, 2021 U.S. Dist....
