WASHINGTON (CN) — The government should not be forced to bring a whistleblower suit over its own objections, the Supreme Court ruled in an 8-1 opinion Friday.
“Today, we hold that the Government may seek dismissal of an FCA action over a relator’s objection so long as it intervened sometime in the litigation, whether at the outset or afterward,” Justice Elena Kagan wrote for the majority.
Jesse Polansky is a doctor who purportedly uncovered medical billing discrepancies while doing consulting work at Executive Health Resources. He says the company caused hospitals to fraudulently overbill the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
In suing under the False Claims Act, Polansky would be eligible to collect nearly a third of any money that the government recovered — that is, if it agreed to take up the case. While the government does have the power to intervene in these suits, it can also demur and allow the whistleblower to continue with the action alone.
After a two-year investigation, the government decided not to interfere in Polansky’s suit against Executive Health Resources. Polansky continued the suit alone, ultimately accruing over $20 million in legal fees.
While the suit was ongoing, Polansky located 14,000 documents that had not been provided to Executive Health Resources. At this point, the government jumped in and persuaded a federal judge to dismiss the suit.
Polansky appealed to the Supreme Court after the Third Circuit also backed dismissal.
Before the...
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