Administration To Begin E-Verify Enforcement On September 8, 2009
Client Alert | 1 min read | 07.15.09
The Obama administration has completed its evaluation of the E-Verify rule and will begin enforcing compliance with the rule on September 8, 2009; as a result, federal contractors and subcontractors will be required to use Homeland Security’s E-Verify system to verify the employment eligibility of all new hires in the U.S. and all employees working in the U.S. on federal contracts valued at $100,000 and subcontracts valued greater than $3,000. However, the future of E-Verify and the obligations of contractors remain uncertain for two reasons: (1) litigation challenging the E-Verify rule, which had been stayed pending the administration’s evaluation, will likely now move forward; and (2) the Senate has approved an amendment to the 2010 Homeland Security spending bill that would expand E-Verify to apply to all existing employees, and not just new hires or those employees working on federal contracts at the thresholds listed above.
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Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.21.25
On November 7, 2025, in Thornton v. National Academy of Sciences, No. 25-cv-2155, 2025 WL 3123732 (D.D.C. Nov. 7, 2025), the District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed a False Claims Act (FCA) retaliation complaint on the basis that the plaintiff’s allegations that he was fired after blowing the whistle on purported illegally discriminatory use of federal funding was not sufficient to support his FCA claim. This case appears to be one of the first filed, and subsequently dismissed, following Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s announcement of the creation of the Civil Rights Fraud Initiative on May 19, 2025, which “strongly encourages” private individuals to file lawsuits under the FCA relating to purportedly discriminatory and illegal use of federal funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in violation of Executive Order 14173, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity (Jan. 21, 2025). In this case, the court dismissed the FCA retaliation claim and rejected the argument that an organization could violate the FCA merely by “engaging in discriminatory conduct while conducting a federally funded study.” The analysis in Thornton could be a sign of how forthcoming arguments of retaliation based on reporting allegedly fraudulent DEI activity will be analyzed in the future.
Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.20.25
Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.20.25
Client Alert | 6 min read | 11.19.25
