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Are Your GSA Schedule Products TAA-Compliant?

Client Alert | 1 min read | 10.08.14

While Multiple Award Schedules administered by GSA can be a valuable tool for selling to government customers, these government-wide contracts include numerous special requirements, including the requirement that each and every product offered comply with the Trade Agreements Act restriction on providing products from so-called "non-designated countries." In "Where Are Your Products From? The Importance and Challenges of Managing TAA Compliance for GSA Schedule Holders", published in Bloomberg BNA Federal Contracts Report, C&M's Cathy Kunz and Addie Cliffe discuss recent enforcement actions that highlight the risk of TAA non-compliance and offer practical pointers for assuring compliance.


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Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.21.25

A Sign of What’s to Come? Court Dismisses FCA Retaliation Complaint Based on Alleged Discriminatory Use of Federal Funding

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....

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