STATEMENT: TAF Coalition Files Two Supreme Court Amicus Briefs to Protect Whistleblower Laws
Washington, DC – This week, The Anti-Fraud Coalition filed two amicus briefs with the Supreme Court in two cases to be heard in the upcoming term.
“Powerful interests keep attacking the laws like the False Claims Act for a reason: They’re afraid of whistleblowers and accountability,” said Jacklyn DeMar, TAF Coalition President & CEO. “The Anti-Fraud Coalition continues to protect the False Claims Act in the courts and elsewhere to continue the fight on fraud.”
Wisconsin Bell, Inc. v. U.S. ex rel. Todd Health
On cert, TAF Coalition’s brief focuses on the history of the FCA in protecting taxpayer funds in a broad swath of government programs involving many mechanisms of payment and regardless of whether there was actual pecuniary damage to the U.S. The brief also discusses Congressional intent in amending the FCA to broaden the reach of the statute.
Further, the brief debunks the “parade of horribles” espoused by defendant and its amici, including their claim that the Seventh Circuit’s holding extended FCA liability to private transactions between private entities. Finally, because we wouldn’t be living in a post-Polansky world if not, defendant and its amici threw in a constitutional challenge though it was not before the court or raised at all below, which we deftly addressed in our brief. You can read the brief here.
NVIDIA Corp. and Jensen Huang v. E. Ohman J:or Fonder AB and Stiching Pensionenfonds PGB
Though not an FCA case, TAF Coalition filed its brief to address the defendants’ argument that there should be a bright line rule requiring plaintiffs who base scienter allegations on company documents to plead with particularity the contents of those documents. The brief discusses the holistic approach to applying Rule 9(b) to assess whether plaintiffs have plead their claims with particularity. You can read the brief here.
For more information on this topic, please contact James King, Director of Communications & Digital at [email protected].
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