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CFC Weighs in on Timeliness of OCI Protest

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 01.26.12

In a case of first impression for the Court of Federal Claims and a victory for C&M, which represented the intervenor, the court concluded in CRAssociates v. U.S. (Dec. 23, 2011) that the protestor waives an organizational conflict of interest challenge when it (1) knows that a firm intends to compete, (2) knows the facts giving rise to an OCI concern, (3) notifies the agency of the OCI concern, (4) receives an indication that the agency will not take any remedial action, and (5) fails to file a pre-award challenge to the agency’s decision. The court’s analysis is generally consistent with GAO precedent.

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Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.21.25

A Sign of What’s to Come? Court Dismisses FCA Retaliation Complaint Based on Alleged Discriminatory Use of Federal Funding

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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