Polansky and the Future of False Claims Act Qui Tam Prosecution
The U.S. Supreme Court will be addressing whether the United States can seek to dismiss a whistleblower’s False Claims Act lawsuit after it has elected not to participate in the case. The Court also will consider the standard that should apply if the government can seek dismissal. The authors of this article discuss the case.
In its current term, the U.S. Supreme Court is poised to address the issue of whether the United States can seek to dismiss a whistleblower’s False Claims Act (“FCA”) lawsuit after it has elected not to participate in the case. And, if it can seek dismissal, what standard should apply?
The Court agreed to consider the matter of United States ex rel. Polansky v. Executive Health Resources, Inc. In his cert petition, the whistleblower presses the theory that after the United States declines to intervene in an FCA qui tam case, it lacks any authority to dismiss the action. At a minimum, the petitioner argues that the Court should resolve a long-standing split among the circuit courts regarding the standard that applies to such a motion—a split that has splintered even further in response to an uptick in such motions since 2018.
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“Polansky and the Future of False Claims Act Qui Tam Prosecution,” by Jennifer A. Short, Tjasse L. Fritz, and Bridget Mayer Briggs was published in the January 2023 edition of Pratt’s Government Contracting Law Report (Vol. 9, No. 13), an A.S. Pratt Publication, LexisNexis. Reprinted with permission.
This article was first published in Blank Rome’s Government Contracts Navigator blog in August 2022.