With More to Come, DoD Expands Reach of Detection and Avoidance of Counterfeit Parts Requirements
Client Alert | 1 min read | 08.02.16
Today, DoD published a final rule further – but still only partially – implementing the FY12 DoD Authorization Act requirement (since amended) for detection and avoidance of counterfeit electronic parts by imposing on all contractors and subcontractors, including small businesses and suppliers of COTS products and commercial items, traceability obligations and procedures for identifying “contractor approved sources” when electronic parts are unavailable from the original manufacturer or other source identified in the new clause (DFARS 252.246-7008). The new clause also provides for specific procedures to be followed, including notifying DoD and performing authentication, inspection, and testing to industry standards when electrical parts are obtained from subcontractors that refuse flowdown of the clause or from sources other than those expressly authorized under the clause.
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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
