govconlaw

If Congress cannot pass a new funding plan by October 1, 2023 (the start of the federal fiscal year), the Government will “shut down” financially at 12:01 A.M. and that shut-down will last until Congress signs a new funding bill into law. The question is—what do you do as a government contractor when faced...

“For scienter, it is enough if respondents believed that their claims were not accurate.” 1 - Justice Thomas On June 1, 2023, the Supreme Court issued its opinion on the ongoing False Claims Act (“FCA”) scienter issues (the “Opinion”) – i.e., does a company’s objective or subjective knowledge matter regarding whether its submissions to...

The Supreme Court continues to define the False Claims Act (“FCA”). In September 2022, Ward & Berry explained the possibility of the Supreme Court taking on a second FCA case¹ this term, and why we should care about it. Short answer: The “knowledge” aspect of the FCA is under heavy debate and any resolution...

On October 19, 2022, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) updated its “Know Your Rights” poster. On October 28, 2022, the Office of Federal Contractor Compliance (“OFCCP”) notified federal government contractors that they must now use the 2022 “Know Your Rights” poster instead of the 2009 “EEO is the Law” poster and the 2015...

On August 19, 2022, the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) published a public notice calling for objections to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request from the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) for all EEO-1 Reports submitted between 2016-2020. The OFCCP believes that the requested information may be protected...

Two contractors walk into a bar (named Public Disclosure). The first says, “Let’s cheat the Government!” The second says, “Great; I know just how to do it, I’m going to charge less than our regular prices – ON PURPOSE – just to mess with Uncle Sam.”   The contractors are overhead by a serial whistleblower,...