Ninth Circuit decision makes it harder to bring a Federal False Claims Act case
On March 24, 2011 the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals made it more difficult to bring a complaint claiming a violation of the Federal False Claims Act (FCA). The Court held that FCA complaints must not only “state with particularity the circumstances constituting fraud or mistake” (under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(b)), but must “also plead plausible allegations” (under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8(a). In Mary Angela Cafasso v. General Dynamics C4 Systems, Inc. (March 24, 2011) 11 C.D.O.S. 3557 the Court upheld the dismissal of the plaintiffs’ False Claims Act complaint before trial because, although the “complaint alleges unsavory conduct ... unsavory conduct is not, without more, actionable under the [False Claims Act].”
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