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The OFCCP Could Be Headed Your Way

Client Alert | 1 min read | 02.06.18

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) mailed out 1,000 Corporate Scheduling Announcement Letters (CSAL) on February 1, 2018, giving government contractors some advance notice that they are on the scheduling list for a compliance review this fiscal year. The OFCCP will start mailing the actual scheduling letters (which triggers the 30-day response requirement) on March 19, 2018. The OFCCP has announced that no more than 10 establishments of an individual contractor will be on the scheduling list, and no more than four establishments of an individual contractor will be audited by a particular district office. Some good news for contractors – the agency also announced that no establishment with a review closed in the last five years will be scheduled for a compliance review this year; an increase from the previous two-year reprieve.

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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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