E-Mails Regarding Competitor's Responsibility Not Releasable Under FOIA
Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 03.16.09
In Tybrin Corp. v. USAF (W.D. Ohio Feb. 19, 2009), the district court ruled that e-mails submitted by Tybrin regarding a competitor's responsibility, which ultimately resulted in the exclusion of that competitor, were confidential commercial information under FOIA Exemption 4 and, therefore, not releasable. In doing so, the court relied on Tybrin's practice of treating such e-mails as confidential, not only as to the general public but also within the company, and the fact that Tybrin had a "commercial interest" in the e-mails and so the e-mails were "commercial" information.
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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
