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Whistleblower's FCA Claims Fail Public Disclosure and First-to-File Bars

Client Alert | 1 min read | 04.01.13

In U.S. ex rel. Beauchamp v. Academi Training Center, Inc. (E.D. Va. Mar. 21, 2013), in which C&M represented the defendant, the court dismissed all claims that Academi had violated the False Claims Act by allegedly falsifying its labor invoices and failing to qualify Afghanistan-based security personnel on certain weapons properly. The court held that public disclosure barred both claims because they either had been publicly disclosed in the media or in an earlier qui tam action brought against Academi (resulting in a judgment in favor of Academi with C&M defending), but also that the labor claim was precluded by the first-to-file bar because it was based on the underlying facts in a related and earlier-filed qui tam suit that was pending when the Beauchamp complaint was filed.


Insights

Client Alert | 4 min read | 10.30.26

Two Wrongs Don’t Make a Right: GAO Sustains Protest Where Agency Tried to Fix PIA Violation with a Second PIA Violation

Recent sustain decisions by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) in Fluor Federal Solutions, LLC and Reliance Test & Technology send a clear message: when an agency tries to fix a Procurement Integrity Act (PIA) violation by committing a second one, the cure can be just as fatal as the disease. The cases involved the U.S. Air Force’s $1.8 billion procurement for O&M services at Elgin Air Force Base. During discussions, the Air Force inadvertently released a pricing overview slide with all offerors’ bottom-line evaluated costs to Reliance Test & Technology, which immediately notified the agency of the error. In response, the Air Force decided to level the playing field by providing the same information to all the other offerors in the procurement, stating, “[o]fferors may consider this disclosure in their [final proposal revision].”...