CAS Coverage And Indirect Costs
Client Alert | 1 min read | 03.31.06
A previous Bullet Point addressed a recent decision, AM General LLC, in which the ASBCA decided that a contract awarded pursuant to a partial waiver of the Truth in Negotiations Act was nevertheless covered by the Cost Accounting Standards and adopted a “benefit” test for determining the homogeneity of indirect cost pools under CAS 418. In their article entitled “Practitioner's Comment: “Benefit” Test for CAS 418 Homogeneity,” published in the March 8, 2006, Thomson West The Government Contractor (http://www.crowell.com/pdf/newsroom/GovtContractor_March06.pdf), Terry Albertson and Linda Bruggeman discuss both the legal and practical problems with the Board's CAS 418 analysis as well as the legal issues presented by the CAS Board's lengthy delay in implementing the CAS exemptions in FASA and FARA.
Insights
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
