Where a former employee plausibly alleged that she was fired in retaliation for asserting that the Richmond School Board was violating the False Claims Act in connection with its Head Start program, the school board’s motion to dismiss was denied.
Background
This is an employment dispute arising from the termination of Kara Williams’s employment by the City of Richmond School Board, or RPS. This matter is before the court on RPS’s motion to dismiss.
Documents
The court will begin by addressing whether it should consider the six documents included by RPS in its supporting brief. Defendant argues that the court can and should consider the six exhibits at this stage because plaintiff’s complaint is based on or relies on the content within the documents.
The court finds that plaintiff’s statement of grievance filed with RPS and an email from plaintiff to her supervisor, Kristi D’Souza, in which plaintiff identifies several areas of disagreement and concern regarding changes made to the Head Start Program are “integral” to the complaint and may be considered by the court in resolving defendant’s motion to dismiss.
Standard
The complaint alleges that defendant terminated plaintiff’s employment in violation of the anti-retaliation provision of the False Claims Act, or FCA, after plaintiff “investigat[ed], report[ed], and oppos[ed]” defendant’s actions that allegedly could have led to a viable FCA claim. “To plead retaliation under Section 3730(h), a plaintiff must allege that (1)...
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