CFC Dismisses Adverse Past Performance Challenge
Client Alert | 1 min read | 06.29.10
In Kemron Envtl. Servs., Inc. v. U.S. (May 27, 2010), the Court of Federal Claims dismissed the contractor's complaint that the government issued an unfair, inaccurate, and unreasonable evaluation of its performance, finding that the contractor had failed to meet a jurisdictional prerequisite required by the Contract Disputes Act: that it file a "claim" with the contracting officer. Though the contractor engaged in a series of written and electronic communications with various individuals at the agency expressing its disagreement with its past performance evaluation, the Court concluded that none of the communications constituted (1) "a written demand seeking . . . other contract relief[] . . . as a matter of right" (2) "submitted to the contracting officer for a decision."
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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
