SBA Issues Final Rule On WOSB Contracting Program But Has Yet To Identify Eligible Industries
Client Alert | 1 min read | 10.07.08
On October 1, 2008, the Small Business Administration issued both a proposed (http://www.crowell.com/PDF/Fed-Register_Vol73-No191_Proposed.pdf) and a final rule (http://www.crowell.com/PDF/Fed-Register_Vol73-No191_Rules-Regs.pdf) regarding the Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) contracting program. While the long-awaited final rule makes a few changes to the December 27, 2007, proposed rule, including clarifying that a contracting officer may award a contract or begin performance after receipt of a protest after determining that an award is necessary to protect the public interest, the final rule dodges the key issue and fails to identify those industries where set-aside acquisitions are authorized based on WOSB underrepresentation, and, instead, in the proposed rule, the SBA seeks comments on or before October 31, 2008, on the underlying data used to determine WOSB underrepresentation, including data identifying 31 NAICS codes in which WOSBs were either underrepresented or substantially underrepresented.
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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
