Protest of Private Subcontract Solicitation Has Teeth
Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 02.13.13
In Orion Tech. Resources, LLC v. Los Alamos Nat'l Sec., LLC (Aug. 6, 2012), the New Mexico Court of Appeals held that, while, in a private context, an unsuccessful offeror generally has no right to complain, when the issuer made representations as to how the offers would be considered that it then violated and on which the offeror relied, there was an implied contract under the common law. Moreover, the court ruled that the offeror in appropriate circumstances could obtain injunctive relief or damages, including lost profits if it can prove it would have won the award if the stated rules had been followed.
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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
