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Sole-Source Protest Win Nets Only Protest Costs

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 12.08.05

In Europe Displays, Inc. (Dec. 5, 2005, http://www.gao.gov/decisions/bidpro/297099.pdf), GAO sustained a protest challenging a sole-source award under Simplified Acquisition Procedures because the agency’s justification was not objectively reasonable based on the information reasonably available to the agency, regardless of whether the agency had acted in good faith. However, because the contract had been fully performed by the time of the GAO decision, GAO awarded the protester only its protest costs, reasoning that the cost of responding to a FedBizOpps announcement of a proposed sole-source award, including preparation of a capability statement, is not a “proposal” cost for which GAO can recommend reimbursement.

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Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.21.25

A Sign of What’s to Come? Court Dismisses FCA Retaliation Complaint Based on Alleged Discriminatory Use of Federal Funding

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....

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