CFC Rules That GAO Made Faulty OCI Analysis
Client Alert | 1 min read | 07.21.10
In Turner Constr. Co. v. U.S., the Court of Federal Claims effectively reversed a decision by the GAO in which it had found an organizational conflict of interest resulting from intermittent acquisition negotiations between a subcontractor of the awardee and the parent of a company that assisted the Army Corps of Engineers in preparing the solicitation and evaluating proposals, negotiations that resulted in a post-award acquisition. The Army had followed the GAO recommendation and had disqualified the original awardee, Turner, but the Court concluded that the agency had erred by relying upon the GAO decision because that decision was irrational in light of the fact that GAO had applied the wrong standard of review and “[GAO] overturned the CO’s determination without highlighting any hard facts that indicate a sufficient alignment of interests" between the two companies.
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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
