Whistleblower's FCA Claims Fail Public Disclosure and First-to-File Bars
Client Alert | 1 min read | 04.01.13
In U.S. ex rel. Beauchamp v. Academi Training Center, Inc. (E.D. Va. Mar. 21, 2013), in which C&M represented the defendant, the court dismissed all claims that Academi had violated the False Claims Act by allegedly falsifying its labor invoices and failing to qualify Afghanistan-based security personnel on certain weapons properly. The court held that public disclosure barred both claims because they either had been publicly disclosed in the media or in an earlier qui tam action brought against Academi (resulting in a judgment in favor of Academi with C&M defending), but also that the labor claim was precluded by the first-to-file bar because it was based on the underlying facts in a related and earlier-filed qui tam suit that was pending when the Beauchamp complaint was filed.
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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
