WASHINGTON, Aug. 19, 2026 – A federal judge decided a longstanding whistleblower lawsuit against Array Digital Infrastructure can continue.
District Judge Tanya Chutkan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said in an Aug. 7 opinion that two telecom attorneys were allowed to sue under the False Claims Act.
Array, formerly UScellular, had asked Chutkan to find that provision of the law unconstitutional and dismiss the case. An AT&T subsidiary has made a similar argument, and three conservative Supreme Court justices have signalled they’re open to it.
The FCA mandates higher damages for fraudulently seeking government cash, and allows private parties to sue under the law if they have information about misconduct.
“These provisions are not only critical, but also constitutional — at least according to every U.S. Court of Appeals to address the question,” Chutkan wrote.
Attorneys, Mark O’Connor and Sara Leibman, a former FCC lawyer, are suing under those provisions. They allege that in a 2014 spectrum auction the company used sham subsidiaries to improperly obtain $113 million in small business credits, allowing it to buy spectrum for less than if it bid directly.
The company insists it did nothing improper, and the issue has not dissuaded the FCC from approving Array’s requests to sell its wireless operations and spectrum for billions of dollars.
Array had argued the provisions allowing private parties to sue violated the U.S. Constitution by allowing...
WASHINGTON, Aug. 19, 2026 – A federal judge decided a longstanding whistleblower lawsuit against Array Digital Infrastructure can continue. District Judge Tanya Chutkan of the U.S. District Cour...