False Claims Act -- 2016



AT&T, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Heath   (U.S. Supreme Court)

Whether False Claims Act pleadings must include specific false claims allegations

The NAM filed an amicus brief supporting AT&T Inc. in its petition to the U.S. Supreme Court seeking review of an alleged False Claims Act (FCA) violation where the relator’s pleading did not include facts about any express or implied false claims, nor alleged any personal knowledge of the supposed improper conduct. The issue is whether relators filing FCA claims must include specific allegations of false claims in their pleadings. Unwarranted and excessive FCA claims increase the expense and disruption of burdensome discovery and protracted litigation for manufacturers. The NAM’s brief argued that that a circuit split encourages speculative claims and forum shopping and urged the Court to step in to resolve the split and clarify that FCA claims must, at a minimum, include an allegation of a specific false claim. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court declined review.


Related Documents:
NAM brief  (October 23, 2015)