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Section 3610 of the CARES Act Extended Until March 31, 2021

Client Alert | 1 min read | 12.30.20

On Sunday, President Trump signed a combined COVID-Relief and Omnibus Spending Bill, The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, which funds the Federal Government for FY 2021 and includes a variety of COVID-19-related relief measures.  Among those measures, Section 1002 of the Act extends the reimbursement period for Section 3610 of the CARES Act, which allows federal agencies to use their funds to reimburse contractors for paid leave made to employees who are unable to access the worksites and unable to telework during the pandemic. The initial reimbursement cutoff of September 30, 2020 was previously extended until December 11, 2020, and the Act further extends the period until March 31, 2021, allowing agencies the discretion to continue to provide contractors with relief under Section 3610 of the CARES Act in 2021.

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Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.21.25

A Sign of What’s to Come? Court Dismisses FCA Retaliation Complaint Based on Alleged Discriminatory Use of Federal Funding

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....

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