The Global Collision Of Privacy & Homeland Security
Client Alert | 1 min read | 05.10.06
As the war on terrorism becomes increasingly dependent upon international cooperation and information sharing, Homeland Security contractors engaged in building these trans-border information pipelines face escalating risks of running afoul of more potent privacy regimes abroad where the Canadian Privacy Commissioner has described the "privacy landscape" as a "battlefield" in which "the world has become a more dangerous place." In their recent article "When Homeland Security Goes Abroad: The Global Collision of Privacy & Anti-Terrorism Laws" published in the Federal Contracts Report on April 25, 2006 (http://www.crowell.com/pdf/newsroom/ BNA_Bodenheimer-Meade.pdf), David Bodenheimer and Kris Meade of C&M examine the privacy requirements in the United States and abroad, identifying risks to Homeland Security contractors who may be caught in the global crossfire on the privacy battlefield.
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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
