Courts' Consistent Application Of Stevens To State Institutions Of Higher Learning

The United States Supreme Court recently declined review of the First Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling that the University of Massachusetts Medical School was an “arm of the state,” and thus, not subject to the federal False Claims Act (FCA).  U.S. ex rel. Willette v. University of Massachusetts, Worchester, No. 15-1437 (2017).  In declining review, the Supreme Court impliedly acknowledged the “bedrock proposition” that states, including state agencies and state institutions of higher learning, cannot be sued in a private action under the FCA. U.S. ex rel. Willette v. Univ. of Massachusetts, Worchester, 812 F.3d 35 (1st Cir. 2016).

This bedrock proposition was delivered by the Supreme Court in its 2000 opinion in Vermont Agency of Natural Resources v. U.S. ex rel. Stevens, 529 U.S. 765 (2000).   Although the FCA subjects to liability “any person” who submits a false claim to the government “for payment or approval, the statute itself does not define the