Failure to Consider CAS Materiality Criteria Dooms Gov’t Claim
Client Alert | 1 min read | 11.10.16
In Raytheon Co. (ASBCA Aug. 9, 2016), a case involving disallowed cost increases following voluntary accounting changes, the board ruled that the CO violated FAR 30.602 and abused her discretion by considering only the amount of the dollar impact of the accounting changes and, thus, “fail[ed] to analyze the materiality of the cost impacts at issue” pursuant to the criteria set out in CAS 9903.305. Noting (without deciding) that a cost impact of less than 0.005 percent across affected contracts (roughly $142 per contract) might not be “material,” the board held that the government cannot recover on its claim when the CO “simply disregard[s],” rather than evaluates, the CAS materiality factors.
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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
