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Ten FCA Decisions from 2013 That Contractors Need to Know

Client Alert | 1 min read | 03.04.14

In "Ten FCA Decisions From 2013 That Government Contractors Need To Know," a feature comment published in The Government Contractor, C&M attorneys Andy Liu, Jonathan Cone, and Olivia Lynch count down 10 FCA decisions from last year they predict will have the most significant legal and practical impact on government contractors. Read how the FCA's statute of limitations may be tolled indefinitely thanks to a World War II-era statute, when weaknesses in a contractor's compliance system may lead to FCA liability, and why one court found nothing wrong with imposing a $24 million penalty on a contractor despite no finding of harm to the government on a $3.3 million contract.


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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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