The Supreme Court's "Schindler Elevator" Decision On The False Claims Act's "Public Disclosure" Bar

On May 16, 2011, the US Supreme Court issued an important decision in Schindler Elevator Corp. v. United States ex rel. Kirk, holding that a federal agency's written responses to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests are "reports" within the meaning of the "public disclosure" bar of the False Claims Act (FCA). The decision provides additional and important support for defendants seeking to dismiss qui tam suits on this frequently litigated ground.

The Schindler Elevator Case

In 2005, Daniel Kirk, a former employee of Schindler Elevator, filed an FCA action against Schindler alleging that the company had submitted false claims for payment under federal contracts. (In particular, the alleged falsity derived from the company's failure to file certain reports, known as VETS-100 reports, required under the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance Act of 1972, as well as its inclusion of false information in the reports it did file.) To support