By: Jeffrey M. Haber On December 6, 2016, the United States Supreme Court ruled that a violation of the seal provisions of the False Claims Act (“FCA”) does not mandate dismissal of a relator’s complaint. In doing so, the Court affirmed the judgment of the Fifth Circuit, which, in turn, affirmed the judgment of the district court. In State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. v. United States ex rel. Rigsby (which this Blog wrote about here and here), whistleblowers, Cori and Kerri Rigsb

By: Jeffrey M. Haber This blog previously wrote about Universal Health Services, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Escobar, a Medicaid case involving the “implied certification” theory of liability under the False Claims Act (“FCA”). In Escobar, the Court held that implied certification liability under the FCA may exist where the following two conditions are satisfied: (1) the defendant does not merely request payment, but also makes specific representations about the goods or se

By Jeffrey M. Haber On October 3, 2016, the United States Supreme Court invited the U.S. Solicitor General to express the U.S. Government’s views about the application of the False Claims Act (“FCA”) public disclosure bar. 31 U.S.C. § 3730(e)(4)(A). The request was made in United States ex rel. Advocates for Basic Legal Equality v. U.S. Bank, a qui tam action that the Sixth Circuit held was properly dismissed because of the public disclosure bar. In United States ex rel. Advo

Summary On June 16, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Universal Health Services, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Escobar, a Medicaid case involving the “implied certification” theory of liability under the False Claims Act (“FCA”). The “implied false certification” theory provides that a defendant may violate the FCA by failing to disclose noncompliance with a relevant statutory, regulatory, or contractual requirement. In Escobar, the Court unanimously confirmed that the th

By: Jeffrey M. Haber Catastrophic events often bring out the best in people. Sometimes, however, such events bring out the worst in people. The events that followed Hurricane Katrina stand as reminders of the latter, at least according to Cori and Kerri Rigsby, two sisters who filed a False Claims Act ("FCA") complaint against State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. ("State Farm"), among others. The Rigsby sisters, two experienced claims adjusters, alleged that State Farm and other