DOE Solution To Underfunded Pension Plans: Don't Pay For Them
Client Alert | 1 min read | 05.03.06
In a "notice" issued April 27, 2006 (http://directives.doe.gov/pdfs/doe/doetext/neword/351/n3511.pdf), DOE announced that "after a date to be negotiated with each Contractor, but no later than March 1, 2007," DOE will try to incorporate provisions in its contracts that would appear to make defined-benefit pensions and retiree medical benefits for new employees unallowable and prohibit reimbursement for plan enhancements unless approved in advance by DOE. It seems unlikely that DOE would have the authority to impose these requirements on existing contracts unilaterally, and some of them, particularly restrictions on the allowability of costs required by collective bargaining agreements, would conflict with existing FAR cost allowability rules.
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
