Subway Wins Latest Round Of 15-Year Construction Litigation Saga
Client Alert | 1 min read | 12.15.05
After 15 years of litigation, two trials and the deaths of two judges, Chief Judge Hogan of the U.S. District Court in D.C. wrote the latest chapter in the subway litigation saga, Mergentime-Perini v. WMATA (11/28/05), issuing a 192-page opinion upholding the default terminations of contracts for two Washington Metro subway stations, denying virtually all of the contractors' claims and awarding WMATA over $21 million in excess reprocurement costs and other damages, plus prejudgment interest. Crowell & Moring has represented WMATA in this protracted litigation, which has already established precedent on such issues as whether performance bonds cover allegedly unauthorized contract modifications and the duties of successor judges who take over an uncompleted case after trial.
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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
