DoD Mandates Preparation for Climate Change
Client Alert | 1 min read | 01.18.16
On January 14, 2016, DoD issued Directive 4715.21 (Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience), which establishes a comprehensive framework for agency efforts to (i) address, mitigate, and adapt to climate change risks to U.S. military assets and operations; and (ii) integrate climate change risk considerations into DoD acquisition and mission planning. As described in this post [MAKE THIS A LINK], the DoD Directive does not address several questions that will likely be answered on a piecemeal basis through multiple new or modified regulations, standards, and guidelines, providing the private sector with several opportunities to shape implementation of the directive and to address downstream effects to contracts and corporate policies.
Contacts
Insights
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
