Florida nursing facility Cross Garden Care Center LLC and its owner shouldn’t receive attorneys’ fees despite defeating a whistleblower’s False Claims Act suit alleging Medicaid fraud, a federal magistrate judge said.
Cross Garden failed to show its entitlement to fees, because whistleblower Delia Bell’s claims weren’t objectively unreasonable, US Magistrate Judge Anthony E. Porcelli said Feb. 14
The US government investigated Bell’s claims for almost three years while the case was under seal, and is still investigating the matter, Porcelli said.
The government’s position suggests the case wasn’t frivolous even though Bell didn’t succeed, the magistrate judge said. He recommended that Judge James Whittemore of the US District Court for the Middle District of Florida deny Cross Garden’s fees request.
Bell filed her complaint in April 2016 accusing Cross Garden of billing for unnecessary services, improperly characterizing the level of services needed, and improperly extending periods of service.
The district court granted summary judgment to the defendants in March 2021. Bell had failed to show that a false claim was submitted to the government, the court said.
The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed that decision in November 2021.
Hoyer Law Group PLLC represented Bell. Fuerst Ittleman David & Joseph represented Cross Garden.
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