When Will A Settlement Agreement Preclude A False Claims Act Action?

A recent District of Columbia federal court ruling reminds employers that a severance agreement containing a release of claims under the False Claims Act does not guarantee dismissal of a suit on those grounds.

Background on the FCA

If you stopped a stranger on the street and asked them what, if any, relationship existed between the government's purchase of mules and donkeys to aid the Union's cause in the Civil War,¹ Lance Armstrong,² prescription drugs for Medicare patients, and the questionable receipt of Paycheck Protection Program funds during the COVID-19 pandemic,³ that person might very well give you a confused look and ask if this was a trick question or the beginning of a bizarre joke. It is neither. Instead, those are just a few of millions of types of contractual transactions that could be the foundation of a lawsuit brought pursuant to the False Claims Act (FCA), 31 U.S.C. § 3279 et seq. A recent case provides guidance on when a release of FCA