The qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act (FCA) have survived their most serious constitutional challenge to date. In United States ex rel. Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates, LLC, No. 24-13581, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reversed the first and only federal court ruling to strike down the FCA’s qui tam mechanism, holding that private relators who bring fraud claims on behalf of the United States are not “officers of the United States” subject to Article II’s Appointments Clause because they do not occupy a “continuing position established by law.” The Eleventh Circuit remanded the case for further proceedings before the District Court, which will likely consider other, unadjudicated arguments that the qui tam provisions are unconstitutional. Although parallel challenges are advancing in other circuits, and multiple Supreme Court justices have signaled interest in the Article II implications of qui tam enforcement, the Eleventh Circuit’s long-anticipated ruling—which avoids creation of a circuit split and leaves the qui tam mechanism presently intact—is likely to delay a Court ruling on the mechanism’s constitutionality.
The False Claims Act imposes civil liability on persons who knowingly submit false or fraudulent claims to the federal government. What makes the statute distinctive is its qui tam provision, which allows private relators to file suit in the name of the United States. Once a relator files suit under seal, the Department of...
Nana, a former member of the group After School, announced the progress of the investigation into the home invasion robbery and resented that the perpetrator continued to make false claims without ...