Nothing Personal: Southern District of New York Dismisses FCA Suit Against Foreign Entity on Personal Jurisdiction Grounds
The Southern District of New York went back to basics in dismissing a relator’s False Claims Act suit last month, relying on legal grounds not common in FCA litigation: lack of personal jurisdiction under the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. In U.S. ex. rel. TZAC, Inc. v. Christian Aid, No. 17-CV-4135 (PKC), 2021 WL 2354985, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. June 9, 2021), the court found that the relator failed to allege sufficient minimum contacts to establish personal jurisdiction over Christian Aid, a foreign corporation that had received grant funds from USAID. The decision serves as a reminder for litigators to ensure that bar-exam basics are satisfied before focusing on the merits of any False Claims Act matter.
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