As a lawyer who regularly defends qui tam suits brought against government contractors under the False Claims Act (FCA), a recent decision from the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in The Tolliver Grp. Inc. v. United States, Fed. Cl., No. 17-1763C (J. Lettow 10/26/18) prompted me to remind federal government contractors defending civil qui tam … Continue Reading
On July 25, 2014, the U.S. Department of Defense (“DOD”), General Services Administration (“GSA”), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (“NASA”) adopted a Final Rule addressing the allowability of legal costs incurred by a contractor or subcontractor defending against a whistleblowing employee’s accusation of reprisal. The Final Rule implements a provision of the 2013 National … Continue Reading
Yesterday, November 15, the SEC issued its 2012 whistleblower report. A total of 115 (3.8%) tips were FCPA related. Additionally, 324 tips (10.8% of total) originated from overseas. The top overseas sources of tips were the UK (74, 23%), Canada (46, 14%), India (33, 10%), China (27, 8%), and Australia (21, 6%). No other single … Continue Reading
This post was written by Andrew Bernasconi and Nathan Fennessy. As we noted previously, there has been increasing attention in False Claims Act (“FCA”) cases to whistleblowers who fail to preserve relevant evidence. Now, in a recent decision in the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico, the government has been sanctioned for its … Continue Reading
This post was also written by Andrew C. Bernasconi and Nathan R. Fennessy. In a troubling decision that could have significant implications for grant recipients, the Second Circuit recently held that the proper measure of damages in a False Claims Act (“FCA”) case against a grant recipient is the full amount of the grant, regardless of … Continue Reading
On September 13, 2012, Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA), along with Rep. Todd Platts (R-PA), introduced the Non-Federal Employee Whistleblower Protection Act of 2012 (H.R. 6406). This legislation is designed to reduce fraud within the government and save taxpayer dollars by expanding the whistleblower-protections covering to federal contractors, subcontractors and grantees. In its final report issued … Continue Reading
This post was written by Andrew C. Bernasconi and Nathan Fennessy. Continuing the recent trend of decisions sanctioning whistleblowers for failing to comply with their discovery obligations (see our previous posts “Whistleblower Precluded from Relying Upon Stolen Records for False Claims Act Case” and “FCA Qui Tam Relator Sanctioned for Destroying Evidence on Company-Issued Laptop”), the … Continue Reading
This post was written by James L. Sanders. An unnamed individual who provided information to the SEC about a securities fraud has been awarded $50,000 under the SEC’s Whistleblower Program. The award represents 30 percent of the monetary sanctions collected by the SEC in the case in which the whistleblower provided information. The whistleblower has … Continue Reading
This post was written by Scot T. Hasselman, Andrew C. Bernasconi, Nathan Fennessy, and Gunjan Talati. In a case of first impression in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the court held in United States ex rel. Little v. Shell Exploration & Production Co., No. 11-20320 (5th Cir. July 31, 2012) … Continue Reading
The U.S. Senate unanimously passed the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (S. 743) (“WPEA”) last week, a bill that builds on the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989 (“WPA”). The WPA currently prohibits executive branch departments and agencies from taking retaliatory action against any employee who reports waste, fraud, abuse, or other wrongdoing at an agency. If … Continue Reading
This post was written by Andrew Bernasconi and Nathan Fennessy. In yet another reminder about the importance of maintaining evidence on company-issued laptops, BlackBerrys, or other electronic devices, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California recently sanctioned a qui tam relator for destroying more than 10,000 documents on his company-issued laptop. Moore … Continue Reading
Around this time of year many people look forward to the ringing of bells. Bryan Rahija wants your help in ensuring that we have year-round blowing of the whistles. If the estate tax was called the death tax, would we all try to live a little healthier? (It’s the holidays – I’ll make and break … Continue Reading
In January 2010, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced a new cooperation initiative intended to encourage and incentivize individuals and companies to cooperate with and assist the SEC in its investigations and enforcement actions. That initiative, which was characterized as a “potential game-changer” for the SEC’s Enforcement Division by its new director, Robert Khuzami, … Continue Reading
