Aerojet and the qui tam relator have entered into a 13th hour settlement—after a jury was seated and the trial was underway—to resolve the much-watched United States ex rel. Brian Markus v. Aerojet Rocketdyne, Inc. False Claims Act (“FCA”) case. The parties—including the Department of Justice, which must consent to the settlement of qui tam claims—all seem to agree they do not want to run the risk of leaving this matter to be decided by a jury. Although it will not be the fully litigated test case for cyber-related FCA liability, the settlement shows that cyber noncompliance can have real financial consequences for government contractors.
The relator, Aerojet’s former senior director of cybersecurity, alleged the company entered into several Department of Defense and NASA contracts while knowingly misrepresenting its compliance with applicable cybersecurity requirements. The relator raised two separate legal theories—implied false certification and fraud in the inducement—based on the company’s alleged failure to fully disclose the extent of its noncompliance with cybersecurity controls required by DFARS 252.204-7012, Safeguarding Covered Defense Information and Cyber Incident Reporting, and NASA FARS 1852.204-76, Security Requirement for Unclassified Information Technology Resources. In 2019, the court denied the company’s motion to dismiss, rejecting the company’s argument that the relator had failed to demonstrate the cybersecurity requirements were material. We covered...
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday strongly rejected reports claiming that the government was planning to impose restrictions or additional taxes on foreign travel. In a rare move, PM Modi per...