In a string of recent cases following the Supreme Court’s 2019 decision in Food Marketing Institute v. Argus Leader Media, multiple courts have held that a party submitting information to the government need not demonstrate it obtained an assurance of confidentiality from the government in order for the agency to justify withholding that information
FOIA
C&M Publishes Article in BNA Federal Contracts Report on Recent Supreme Court Holding that FOIA Response Falls Within FCA Public Disclosure Bar
By Mana Elihu Lombardo on
Posted in False Claims
The Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), 5 U.S.C. §552, is intended to uphold the principles of transparency and open government, so that citizens can assess government accountability and actions. Since its enactment in 1966, FOIA has also been used by companies to obtain information about their competitors’ prices and contract performance, as well as by…
GSA Clarifies Status Of FAPIIS Under FOIA
By Peter J. Eyre on
Posted in GSA Schedule/Commercial Items
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…