Less than a week before most people departed for December holidays, the Department of Justice posted to its website its annual summary of False Claims Act matters and recoveries. Among other data points, the FY 2012 summary reports the number of new FCA "matters" that were filed or opened, both by qui tam relators and … Continue Reading
GSA has now topped the $128 million settlement it reached in 2009 with NetApp – then the largest settlement reached in an FCA action against a GSA Schedule contractor – by settling with Oracle Corporation and Oracle America Inc. this past week in the amount of $199.5 million plus interest. The settlement resolves an FCA action … Continue Reading
Two years ago, GSA reached a $128 million settlement with Network Appliance, now known as NetApp Inc., based on a whistleblower False Claims Act (“FCA”) suit that alleged the company had failed to comply with the Price Reduction Clause of the contract. The settlement amount was, and continues to be, the largest Schedule contract fraud settlement … Continue Reading
Professional whistleblower Brady Folliard’s most recent False Claims Act suit against technology vendors alleging violations of the Trade Agreements Act (“TAA”) has survived a motion to dismiss with respect to two defendants (GovPlace and Government Acquisitions, Inc.), but otherwise has been dismissed for the other six defendants (which include Hewlett Packard and GTSI Corporation). In … Continue Reading
I will be participating in a webinar on June 1, 2011, to discuss GSA Schedule contracting. This webinar will provide an informative overview of the key contract requirements and compliance obligations, including pricing disclosures, the Price Reduction Clause, Trade Agreements Act, labor qualifications, and payment of the Industrial Funding Fee. It will also provide insightful discussion of … Continue Reading
On May 16, 2011, GSA published a Notice to clarify whether information contractors input into the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (“FAPIIS”) is exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”). Presumably this Notice was prompted by a recent flood of FOIA requests. In essence, the Notice provides that Information posted … Continue Reading
Home Depot was sued in 2008 by two whistleblowers claiming that the company had violated the False Claims Act by selling products that did not comply with the Trade Agreements Act (“TAA”) to the U.S. government through its GSA Schedule contract. The United States has not intervened in the case. Home Depot recently moved for reconsideration of … Continue Reading
The United States has intervened in yet another False Claims Act suit against GSA Schedule contractors alleging violations of the Trade Agreements Act. On November 24, 2010, the United States filed its Complaint in Intervention in U.S. ex rel. Navarro v. Divine Imaging, Inc. et al. The complaint alleges that four different office supply companies … Continue Reading
As discussed in my blog post in June, the Department of Justice intervened in a False Claims Act case filed by a whistleblower against Oracle which alleged that the company had failed to accurately disclose its commercial pricing practices to the government in association with its GSA Schedule contract. DOJ has now filed its complaint (.pdf) … Continue Reading
On June 16, 2010, the media reported that a False Claims Act case had been filed by a whistleblower against Oracle Corporation alleging that the company had failed to disclose deep discounts given to the most favored commercial customers. The Department of Justice has intervened and unsealed the relator’s complaint. The Government has not yet filed its complaint … Continue Reading
On May 25, 2010, the Justice Department announced an $87.5 million settlement with EMC for alleged false claims associated with EMC’s GSA Schedule contract. The settlement comes out of a series of qui tam suits filed against IT companies and systems integration consultants by relators Norman Rille and Neal Roberts in the Eastern District of Arkansas … Continue Reading
Almost five years ago, a number of large office products companies with GSA Schedule contracts settled allegations that they had submitted false claims when selling office products to the U.S. Government that were not compliant with the Trade Agreements Act (“TAA”). The allegations came not from a government audit or from employees of these companies, but … Continue Reading
In addition to making specific recommendations for Services contracts, the Multiple Award Schedule (“MAS”) Advisory Panel’s Final Report (.pdf) recommended a number of actions to be taken by GSA related to the acquisition of Solutions (a specific combination of services and products defined by each customer’s needs). The Panel recommended: Do not apply the Price … Continue Reading
The Multiple Award Schedule (“MAS”) Advisory Panel presented a series of recommendations (.pdf) to the new GSA Administrator on March 10, 2010 related to the structure, use and pricing of the GSA MAS Program. The Panel’s charge was to focus on the “most favored customer” and price reduction provisions in Federal Supply Schedule (“FSS) contracts (also … Continue Reading
