New Post-Employment "Revolving Door" Certification
Client Alert | 1 min read | 11.18.11
On November 18, 2011, in the wake of high-profile enforcement actions and bid protests demonstrating the risks involved when contractors recruit and hire former government personnel (e.g., Health Net Fed. Servs.), the DoD issued a final rule that, for the first time, will require offerors to certify that “all covered DoD officials employed by or otherwise receiving compensation from the offeror, and who are expected to undertake activities on behalf of the offeror for any resulting contract, are presently in compliance with all post-employment restrictions covered by 18 U.S.C. 207, 41 U.S.C. 2101-2107, and 5 CFR parts 2637 and 2641, including Federal Acquisition Regulation 3.104-2.” This new requirement further reinforces the necessity for contractors to have robust internal systems to identify and monitor in a timely way the post-employment restrictions imposed on their employees and consultants who are former government personnel.
Contacts
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
