Mitigation Plan Doesn't Always Heal OCI
Client Alert | 1 min read | 01.18.06
In Alion Science & Technology Corp. (Jan. 9, 2006, http://www.gao.gov/decisions/bidpro/297342.pdf), GAO found an impaired objectivity organizational conflict of interest in the award of a contract to provide electromagnetic spectrum engineering services to a manufacturer of electromagnetic spectrum-dependent products, because performance of the contract would involve many different kinds of subjective judgments that might affect the sale or use of such products of the contractor, its competitors, or its customers. A mitigation plan based upon assignment of all work involving such judgments to a subcontractor was rejected because it was based upon erroneous, understated assessments of the conflict potential presented by multiple tasks in the solicitation, and because the agency had not considered the impact on the technical evaluation scoring of a shift of so much of the work from the prime contractor to the subcontractor.
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
