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GAO Has Had Enough, Suspends Protester for One Year

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 08.26.16

In a rare move, GAO has suspended a nuisance litigator from protesting for a period of one year after it had filed 150 meritless protests this fiscal year alone. While the decision in Latvian Connection LLC (Aug. 18, 2016) may be an isolated occurrence, it will be interesting to see whether such a sanction (or perhaps GAO’s soon-to-be-introduced protest filing fee) will deter future filings of other meritless protests.

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Client Alert | 3 min read | 04.14.26

DOJ’s False Claims Act Resolution Against IBM Signals Heightened Risk for Federal Contractors with DEI Programs

On Friday, April 10, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) has agreed to pay just over $17 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by failing to comply with federal anti-discrimination requirements incorporated into its federal contracts due to allegedly discriminatory diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) employment practices. This resolution marks the first FCA settlement secured by the DOJ under its Civil Rights Fraud Initiative, created in May 2025, and announced by then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche as part of the administration’s coordinated efforts to target allegedly unlawful DEI practices. Per the agreement, the settlement is neither an admission of liability by IBM nor a concession by the United States that its claims are not well founded....