Third Time’s Not a Charm; Disparate Compensation Evaluation Leaves Navy Stranded
Client Alert | 1 min read | 12.07.17
On November 20, 2017, the Government Accountability Office released its decision in Fluor Federal Solutions, LLC, B-410486.9, sustaining a protest challenging the Navy’s third award decision for an 8-year contract to provide base operations support services on the island of Guam. Following a sustained protest challenging the Navy’s discussions and proposal evaluations (CFS-KBR Marianas Support Services, LLC; Flour Federal Solutions LLC, B-410486, et al., Jan. 2, 2015 (Round 1)), and an outcome prediction ADR in which GAO advised that it would sustain the protester’s second protest challenging the Navy’s evaluation of the awardee’s exempt employee compensation plan (Round 2), the Navy again selected the same awardee. In this protest (Round 3), GAO found that the Navy engaged in disparate treatment when it downgraded the protester for proposing reduced compensation of exempt employees while overlooking similar risk in the awardee’s proposed plan, which involved replacing exempt employees with new hires at reduced compensation through multiple hiring cycles.
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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
