ASBCA Reconsiders CAS 418 Definition Of "Homogeneous Cost Pools"
Client Alert | 1 min read | 03.06.07
In a decision published on February 26, 2007, the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals granted Appellant's motion for reconsideration of the widely criticized decision in AM General LLC, ASBCA Nos. 53610, 54741, 06-1 BCA ¶ 33,190, in which the Board had granted summary judgment to the Government, finding that an overhead cost pool that included some capital facilities used in production of the commercial HUMMER but was allocated to all HUMMER production did not comply with the homogeneity requirements of CAS 418 because those assets did not directly benefit production of the military version of the HUMMER. After considering the additional arguments of the contractor and of the National Defense Industrial Association as amicus curiae (represented by Crowell & Moring), the Board found that the evidence about the "homogeneity" of activities in the pool and the base at issue was insufficient to demonstrate a violation of CAS 418 and that the Government had failed even to address materiality ("a crucial test for determining homogeneity"), and for these reasons vacated its prior decision.
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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.
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