The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit issued an important opinion on August 30, 2022, that reinforces the seemingly obvious principle that the government is not entitled to windfall damages recoveries in False Claims Act (FCA) cases. Rather, FCA damages are meant to make the government whole for the losses it sustained because of the wrongful conduct—and once that objective is met, the government cannot recover additional FCA damages. However, calculating FCA settlement credits under the pro tanto rule may not always be straightforward.
The US Court of Appeals decision in United States v. Honeywell International Inc., No. 21-5179, 2022 WL 3723020 (D.C. Cir. Aug. 30, 2022), ensures that the federal government’s damages recoveries in FCA cases are limited to the statutory cap by adopting a pro tanto rule in instances where multiple parties may be liable for the government’s losses. In establishing this rule, the court rejected the government’s argument that a proportionate share rule be imposed in FCA cases, reasoning—among other factors—that such a rule would in some cases enable the government to recover damages in excess of the treble damages permissible under 31 USC § 3729(a).
Application of the pro tanto rule in Honeywell was relatively straightforward. In its affirmative FCA suit against the defendant, the government claimed approximately $35 million in treble damages, and the district court found that the government already had recovered more than $35 million in...
The author and behavioural scientist, Gad Saad, has just published a book on what he calls “suicidal empathy”. He says that “a society dies when it cares more about exhibiting infinite tolerance a...