Forum

U.S. Supreme Court

Case Status

Decided

Docket Number

Term

2016 Term

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Questions Presented

The first question presented is: What standard governs the decision whether to dismiss a relator’s claim for violation of the FCA’s seal requirement, 31 U.S.C. § 3730(b)(2)?

The second question presented is: Whether and under what standard a corporation or other organization may be deemed to have “knowingly” presented a false claim, or used or made a false record, in violation of section 3729(a) of the FCA based on the purported collective knowledge or imputed ill intent of employees other than the employee who made the decision to present the claim or record found to be false, where (i) the employee submitting the claim or record independently made the decision to present the claim or record in good faith after reviewing the available information and (ii) there was no causal nexus between the submission of the false claim or record and the purported collective knowledge or imputed ill intent of those other employees?

Case Updates

Outcome

December 06, 2016

The Supreme Court held that a violation of the “seal” requirement of the False Claims Act by a relator does not require automatic dismissal of the relator’s case but did note that in proper cases sanctions for seal requirements should be available.

U.S. Chamber urges Supreme Court to rigorously enforce the False Claims Act’s “seal” requirement

August 05, 2016

The U.S. Chamber and Financial Services Roundtable filed an amicus brief on the merits, explaining that there has been a significant increase in FCA lawsuits and abuse by private relators. Furthermore, the FCA’s seal requirement should be rigorously enforced because the court of appeals’ unbalanced “balancing” test invites relators to break the rules, and any balancing approach should punish bad faith and guard against reputational harms.

Robert A. Long, Mark W. Mosier, and David M. Zionts of Covington & Burling LLP served as co-counsel for the amici.

Cert. petition granted

May 31, 2016

The petition for writ of certiorari was granted, limited to Question 1 presented by the petition.

U.S. Chamber urges Supreme Court to review standards for dismissal where relator violates the False Claims Act’s seal requirement

November 20, 2015

The U.S. Chamber filed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to grant a writ of certiorari in a False Claims Act (“FCA”) case to review the standards for dismissal where a relator violates the seal and the application of the scienter requirement. In its joint brief with the Financial Services Roundtable, the Chamber argued that the remedy for violations of the FCA’s seal requirement is an important issue for the business community and that a strict standard for corporate scienter under the FCA must be maintained to limit abuse by relators.

Robert A. Long, Mark W. Mosier, and David M. Zionts of Covington & Burling LLP served as co-counsel for the amici.

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