Partners Matthew Benedetto and Davina Pujari, Special Counsel Chris Rheinheimer and Associate Michael Amato penned an article for The Daily Journal outlining “the most important False Claims Act case in a decade.”
Excerpt: On April 18, the Supreme Court heard oral argument and what has been billed as the most important False Claims Act (FCA) case in a decade. Since the FCA was enacted in the Civil War era, it has been the primary tool for the United States to combat alleged fraud by federal contractors. Especially since the law was amended in 1986, the FCA has served as a comprehensive fraud anti-fraud statute applied broadly across numerous federal programs, including procurement contracts, Medicare and Medicaid, environmental services, government-backed mortgages and pandemic relief.
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In United States ex rel. Schutte v. SuperValu, out of the Seventh Circuit, the Supreme Court is faced with the following epistemological quandary: Can a defendant act “knowingly” under the FCA where the relevant legal requirement for payment is ambiguous and the defendant’s interpretation of that requirement is objectively reasonable?
