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In United States ex rel. Vavra v. Kellogg Brown & Root, Inc. (Feb. 3, 2017), the Fifth Circuit held that under Section 8706(a)(1) of the Anti-Kickback Act — permitting recovery of twice the amount of each kickback plus $11,000 for each occurrence of a prohibited conduct — corporations are liable “for the knowing violations of those employees whose authority, responsibility, or managerial role within the corporation is such that their knowledge is imputable to the corporation.”  In applying this standard to the two Kellogg Brown & Root, Inc. (“KBR”) employees who had accepted meals and entertainment (on 33 occasions) from a supplier, the court found that one employee’s knowledge could be imputed to the corporation because the employee was responsible for supervising the subcontract at issue, for ensuring the supplier met its obligations, including contract performance, and for executing technical evaluations for rebidding the subcontract and therefore “had somewhat significant managerial authority over the sphere of activities in question.”  In contrast, the court found the other employee who was neither involved in nor had the authority to take any procurement action regarding the subcontract at issue during the relevant period had only “limited authority” that was not enough to impute his knowledge to KBR. 

With respect to whether numerous instances of meals, drinks, and other entertainment constituted “kickbacks” under the Act, the court concluded that “anything of value offered in order to subvert the ‘proper’ process for awarding contracts is a potential kickback,” noting that while merely seeking to develop good will or a good working relationship to gain more business would be insufficient, it was “enough to connect the gratuity with the specific kind of treatment sought in a way that establishes impropriety.”   The court found the connection was satisfied with testimony that the supplier provided gratuities, in part, to subvert proper procedures:  the supplier employee testified that the KBR employee “was the highest-ranking guy that we dealt with … [and] the most important [person at KBR] with regard to controlling service issues.”  When asked why he provided gratuities, the supplier employee answered that it was because the KBR employee “would bring service issues to us.  Specifically he knew me based on entertaining; so, if they had issues, he would bring them to me before they escalated out of control.”   The court found the testimony provided sufficient specificity to support a finding that the KBR employee received gratuities to overlook and/or forgive performance deficiencies in subversion of proper procedures and in violation of the Anti-Kickback Act.

 

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Photo of Peter J. Eyre Peter J. Eyre

Peter J. Eyre is a partner and co-chair of Crowell & Moring’s Government Contracts Group. He is also a member of the firm’s Management Board. Peter was named to BTI Consulting Group’s list of “Client Service All-Stars” in 2016, 2017, and 2019 and…

Peter J. Eyre is a partner and co-chair of Crowell & Moring’s Government Contracts Group. He is also a member of the firm’s Management Board. Peter was named to BTI Consulting Group’s list of “Client Service All-Stars” in 2016, 2017, and 2019 and has been named an Acritas Star, Acritas Stars Independently Rated Lawyers (2016, 2017, 2019). He is nationally ranked by Chambers USA in Government Contracts since 2014, and by Super Lawyers since 2017.

Photo of Stephen M. Byers Stephen M. Byers

Stephen M. Byers is a partner in the firm’s White Collar & Regulatory Enforcement Group and serves on the group’s steering committee. He is also a member of the firm’s Government Contracts Group and E-Discovery & Information Management Group. Mr. Byers’s practice involves…

Stephen M. Byers is a partner in the firm’s White Collar & Regulatory Enforcement Group and serves on the group’s steering committee. He is also a member of the firm’s Government Contracts Group and E-Discovery & Information Management Group. Mr. Byers’s practice involves counseling and representation of corporate and individual clients in all phases of white collar criminal and related civil matters, including: internal corporate investigations; federal grand jury, inspector general, civil enforcement and congressional investigations; and trials and appeals.

Mr. Byers’s practice focuses on matters involving procurement fraud, health care fraud and abuse, trade secrets theft, foreign bribery, computer crimes and cybersecurity, and antitrust conspiracies. He has extensive experience with the federal False Claims Act and qui tam litigation, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Economic Espionage Act, and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. In addition to defense of government investigations and prosecutions, Mr. Byers has represented corporate victims of trade secrets theft, cybercrime, and other offenses. For example, he represented a Fortune 100 U.S. company in parallel civil and criminal proceedings that resulted in a $275 million criminal restitution order against a foreign competitor upon its conviction for trade secrets theft.

Photo of Alan W. H. Gourley Alan W. H. Gourley

Alan W. H. Gourley is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of the law firm of Crowell & Moring and serves as a member of the Steering Committee for the firm’s Government Contracts Group. He graduated magna cum laude from Beloit College…

Alan W. H. Gourley is a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of the law firm of Crowell & Moring and serves as a member of the Steering Committee for the firm’s Government Contracts Group. He graduated magna cum laude from Beloit College in 1977 and from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1981. He is a member of the District of Columbia bar.