Sample Tasks Must Be Reasonable Proxy For Entire Contract
Client Alert | 1 min read | 06.08.06
Holding that a cost realism analysis must provide a reasonable basis for estimating the cost to the government of an offeror's performance, in Metro Machine Corp . (May 3, 2006, http://www.gao.gov/decisions/bidpro/ 2978792.pdf) GAO overturned the agency's cost realism evaluation because, while sample tasks can provide a reasonable basis to assess the relative costs of competing proposals, the sample tasks used by the agency in this case were not representative of the contract work. The awardee had proposed a subcontractor with labor rates higher than the prime contractor's to perform a significant portion of the work, but, because that subcontractor had not been included in the proposed solution for any of the sample tasks, the subcontractor's high labor rates were nowhere reflected in the cost realism evaluation.
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
