Where defendants have moved to dismiss a False Claims Act complaint brought by a plaintiff claiming retaliation, that motion should be denied because the plaintiff has pleaded with sufficient specificity that the defendants submitted false claims, that they acted with scienter, and that she was terminated for engaging in protected conduct.
“[Deborah] Souza worked as an underwriter at [defendant] Embrace from September 2016 until February 2019, when Embrace terminated her. … She focused on underwriting government-insured loans like those backed by the Federal Housing Administration (‘FHA’). … Ms. Souza has sued Embrace for violating the False Claims Act (‘FCA’), 31 U.S.C. §3729, et seq. … She alleges that ‘Embrace knew, deliberately ignored, and recklessly disregarded the fact that many of its loans did not comply with HUD’s underwriting requirements, and thus were not eligible for FHA mortgage insurance.’ … Ms. Souza additionally alleges that Embrace retaliated against her by firing her when she raised these issues. …
“In essence, the complaint alleges that Embrace violated various HUD regulations concerning its loan underwriting — while certifying otherwise to HUD — which led it to endorse loans for FHA insurance that were not eligible for such insurance. … Accordingly, Ms. Souza claims that fraudulently obtaining FHA insurance on ineligible loans constitutes false claims under the FCA. …
“Protected conduct includes ‘lawful acts done by the employee … in furtherance of an...
We detected unusual activity from your device or network. Reasons may include: Rapid taps or clicks JavaScript disabled or not working Automated (bot) activity on your network (IP 216.218.191.