District Court Gives Short Shrift to Payment Terms in Recent Brookdale Decision

A recent district court decision from the Middle District of Tennessee serves as a reminder that qui tam relators would be wise to ferret out and include in their filings examples of any instances in which the government has taken enforcement action against companies involved in the type of misconduct they allege. It also underscores the point that courts must remember that the government has to pick and choose what malfeasance...

June 16, 2017

Constantine Cannon attorneys Harry Litman and Mary Inman were quoted in the Law360 article, One Year Later, Escobar Is Roiling FCA Landscape.  Click here to read the article.

June 9, 2017

Eric Havian quoted in the Bloomberg article on the Supreme Court's Escobar decision, Growing Pains Remain One Year After Implied Certification Ruling. Click here to read the article.

Whistleblower News From The Inside -- May 17, 2017

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team Comey Documented Trump Request to Drop Flynn Investigation --  “James Comey, the recently fired FBI director, was asked by President Donald Trump to end an investigation into the actions of former national security adviser Michael Flynn, according to a memo Comey wrote about his conversation with the president.” ABC News DOJ Reaches $89 Million Settlement with Financial Freedom -- “Financial Freedom has agreed to a...

Whistleblower News From The Inside -- March 20, 2017

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team After SCOTUS’ ‘Escobar’ Decision, Courts Increasingly Sink Implied-Certification FCA Suits – Since the June 2016 Supreme Court decision in Escobar, several federal courts have strictly interpreted the viability of implied-certification suits. A recent example in US ex rel. McBride v. Haliburton in the United States Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit demonstrates this new focus. Forbes Jury Awards Whistle-Blower $2 Million in SF...

Whistleblower News From The Inside -- November 28, 2016

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team Overcharges at Hanford Nuclear Site Result in $125 million Settlement – Bechtel and URS entities were alleged to have charged the Department of Energy for deficient nuclear materials, services, and testing provided to the Hanford Waste Treatment Plant, and to have improperly used federal contract funds to lobby for continued funding of the Hanford clean-up.  The case was originally brought by whistleblowers under the...

Whistleblower News From The Inside -- November 3, 2016

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team Kansas City for-profit college shuts down ahead of FCA trial – Heritage College, accused of falsifying student grade and attendance records to receive $32M in federal funding, shut down days after the Eighth Circuit ruled the trial can proceed. Kansas City Business Journal SEC advises Ontario Securities Commission to enact whistleblower retaliation provisions – SEC head Mary Jo White, at a Toronto conference this...

Whistleblower News From The Inside -- October 20, 2016

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team Eighth Circuit revives FCA suit against for-profit college – The Eighth Circuit overturned a lower court ruling and revived for the second time a whistleblower’s FCA suit alleging Heritage College falsified student records to maintain eligibility for federal aid money. The court, citing Escobar, concluded the health care training school’s falsifications were material to the government’s payment. Inside Higher Ed California whistleblower’s actions lead...

Whistleblower News From The Inside — June 29, 2016

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team New Jersey blood lab pleads guilty to role in $100M physician bribery case – Parsippany, New Jersey’s Biodiagnostic Laboratory Services LLC, an entity at the center of a long-running and elaborate test referral scheme operated by its president and numerous associates,  pled guilty and was sentenced Tuesday in federal court. USAO District of New Jersey In wake of Escobar, FCA cases return to circuit...

In Their Own Words -- Grassley

-- “It goes without saying that a lie of omission is still a lie. So it should also go without saying that if you fail to hold up your end of a bargain, but neglect to tell the other party, you aren’t being intellectually honest. And when it involves agreements with the government, this sort of behavior is fraud against taxpayers, plain and simple.”  Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley commenting...