False Claims Act Legal Developments
On December 9, 2020, the US Court of Appeals for the First
Circuit held as a matter of first impression that "the
causation standard for retaliation claims under the False Claims
Act is a 'but-for' standard," joining the Third,
Fourth, Fifth, and Eleventh Circuits.
In Lestage v. Coloplast Corp., 2020 WL 7238287, --- F.3d ---
(1st Cir. 2020), the plaintiff filed suit against her employer
Coloplast Corporation in 2016 alleging that the employer retaliated
against her in violation of the False Claims Act's
anti-retaliation provision, 31 U.S.C. § 3730(h). After the
employer learned that the plaintiff filed a qui tam action against
it and one of its largest customers, the employer allegedly
retaliated against the plaintiff by placing her on indefinite
administrative leave. After the employer settled the qui tam suit,
and the employee allegedly returned from administrative leave, the
employer allegedly retaliated against her again by
