A Rose and a Thorn: Federal Circuit Permits Contractor to Add New Claim to Pending Complaint, but Enforces Notice Provision to Bar Recovery
Client Alert | 1 min read | 02.26.15
In K-Con Building Systems Inc. v. United States, the Federal Circuit held that a contractor could amend its COFC complaint to add new, denied claims related to the appeal if the new claims either requested different remedies (e.g., additional compensation, remission of funds, non-monetary relief) or asserted legal grounds for relief that were materially different from the claims under appeal. This holding may prove helpful to contractors at the COFC who identify additional bases for recovery/remedies after filing their complaint; however, the Court also denied recovery because the contractor's two-year delay before notifying the government of the alleged "changes" failed to provide the adequate notice required by the Changes Clause, distinguishing the facts in K-Con from those in prior cases where notice provisions were not strictly enforced.
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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
