Shades of Lazarus: Is Blacklisting Rule Coming Back to Life?
Client Alert | 1 min read | 07.17.17
On June 26, 2017, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) introduced a new bill titled the Contractor Accountability and Workplace Safety Act of 2017 (S. 1440) aimed at holding Department of Defense (DoD) contractors and covered subcontractors accountable for workplace safety and health violations of federal and equivalent state labor laws. Three days later, during a closed mark-up of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2018 in the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), Senator Warren introduced – and the SASC accepted – an amendment to the NDAA at Sections 830 and 831, similar to S. 1440. Under both S. 1440, and Sections 830-831 in the Senate’s version of the NDAA, which echo the Obama-era “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” EO and implementing regulations, DoD contracting officers would be required to consider workplace safety and health violations when evaluating the responsibility of a prospective DoD contractor prior to awarding or renewing a contract valued in excess of $1,000,000, and, as appropriate, refer matters related to these violations to the DoD Suspension and Debarment Official, ostensibly to ensure contractors’ compliance with these existing laws and establish a goal for DoD to work with responsible, compliant contractors.
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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
