DOJ Downplays Circuit Split on FCA Deference to Government Dismissals of Whistleblower Actions
The Department of Justice has filed a brief with the Supreme Court asking it to decline review of a case concerning the government’s power to dismiss qui tam actions under the False Claims Act. The case in question is U.S. ex rel. Schneider v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., where whistleblower Laurence Schneider asks the Court to consider “[w]hether the Government is entitled to absolute deference regarding its decision to dismiss an FCA action . . . or whether the qui tam relator should be granted the right to demonstrate that the Government’s rationale for dismissal is ‘fraudulent, illegal, or arbitrary and capricious.’”
Schneider contends that there is a circuit split in this area that necessitates the Court’s review. The Justice Department stipulates that there are differences between the circuits in their review of government dismissal requests, but disputes that those differences matter, merely being differences of degree. Schneider’s petition will be considered during the April 4 conference.
