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A Blow to Private Whistleblowers

By Steffen N. Johnson, William P. Ferranti and Andrew C. Nichols
April 30, 2007

In a substantial win for businesses, the U.S. Supreme Court recently issued a decision imposing strict requirements for lawsuits by private whistleblowers. Under the federal False Claims Act, once allegations of fraud are publicly disclosed, a relator (as citizen-plaintiffs are called) may bring suit on the government's behalf only if the relator is an 'original source.' In Rockwell International Corp. v. United States, 549 U.S. __, 2007 WL 895257, the Court rejected the notion that a relator need only have knowledge of background facts about alleged fraud, even if those facts preceded the fraud. Instead, the Court held that a relator must have direct and independent knowledge of the specific misconduct for which liability is actually imposed.

The Ruling Was Significant

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