Too Late: Another Government Claim Barred by CDA Statute of Limitations
Client Alert | 1 min read | 06.09.14
In Laguna Constr. (May 29, 2014), the ASBCA barred the government's claim under the CDA statute of limitations when DCAA had issued a report, more than six years prior, finding that the contractor's subcontract management system was "inadequate" and resulted in "a significant risk . . . relative to allocability, allowability, and reasonableness of subcontract costs billed to the U.S. Government." Even though that report did not identify any specific government claim, the Board found that the government knew or should have known of the basis for its specific claim "no later than" the date that DCAA provided the report to the ACO with its general criticisms, emphasizing that the "events fixing liability should have been known when they occurred unless they can be reasonably found to have been either concealed or 'inherently unknowable' at that time," the latest in a string of decisions interpreting the CDA statute of limitations as to government cost claims (discussed here, here, here, here, here, and here).
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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
