This page summarizes several of the cases we’ve litigated–both False Claims Act and other types of cases, including maritime personal injury; civil rights; legal malpractice; and commercial litigation; and includes links to many relevant documents–complaints, settlement agreements, opinions, or press releases.
Heiser v. Lockheed Martin Co.
We represented Glen Heiser, a Lockheed engineer, in a claim of wrongful termination based on his status as a whistleblower and his age. The case was settled after three days of trial for an amount which is confidential.
Owensby v. City of Cincinnati
Army veteran and father Roger Owensby was one of more than a dozen African-American men who died at the hands of Cincinnati police officers a few years ago. We were part of the team which secured summary judgment against the City for failing to provide Mr. Owensby with critically-necessary medical care as he suffocated in the back of a patrol cruiser while officers joked and chatted around him. The case ultimately settled for more than $7.5 million–by far the largest amount ever paid by the City for violating the civil rights of one of its citizens. A copy of the decision granting summary judgment is available here.
PepsiCo v. Central Investment Company
We were deeply involved in bare-knuckle litigation with PepsiCo on behalf of one of the few remaining independent bottlers of Pepsi products, taking dozens of depositions and preparing briefs which resulted in the dismissal, on summary judgment, of PepsiCo’s attempt to put our client out of business. The judge’s opinion granting our motion for summary judgment against PepsiCo is available here.
Perkins v. American Electric Power
Mr. Wes Perkins was a deckhand on a towboat operated by AEP. He was attempting to follow orders to tighten up the connections between the towboat and its barges when he fell to a lower deck, sustaining horrifyingly-severe injuries. At trial, the court ruled against Mr. Perkins. However, our appellate briefing convinced the federal court of apeals to reverse that decision. After a second appeal, Mr. Perkins recovered more than $3,500,000 against AEP. Click here to review the appellate decision.
United States ex rel. Anderson v. Lockheed Martin Corporation and General Electric
Rudy Anderson worked as a quality inspector for a New York plant owned by General Electric Company, then sold to Lockheed Martin Corporation. The plant produced electronic parts, called Accelerometer Sensor Assemblies (“ASAs”) for Navy F/A 18 “Hornet” fighter jets. These parts were defective, and may have caused at least one crash. We brought a qui tam case on Rudy’s behalf. We then worked very closely with the Department of Justice, Naval Criminal Investigative Service (“NCIS”), and Defense Criminal Investigative Service (“DCIS”). Rick joined the investigative team aboard the aircraft carriers U.S.S. Saratoga and U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln (the picture is of Rick with Capt. Dupuoy) traveling to the Navy’s accident reconstruction facility in San Diego and the F/A-18 depot in Maryland. A settlement resulted in replacement of many bogus parts and recovery of $6.2 million plus the payment of attorney’s fees and costs. Mr. Anderson was awarded 20% of the government’s recovery.
United States ex rel. Atkins v. McInteer
We represented, on appeal only, a psychiatrist who alleged overbilling against nursing homes in the Tuscaloosa area. The case was dismissed for not having enough detailed information. The judge also held that Medicaid fraud was not covered by the False Claims Act. The Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the dismissal, saying that the relator lacked information, but overturned the holding that Medicaid claims were not subject to False Claims Act liability. Click here for the opinion. The Justice Department’s Appellate Section filed an excellent brief in support of our position, which you may review or download here.
United States ex rel. Berglund v. The Boeing Company
In this case, which is currently pending in U.S. District Court in Portland, Oregon, the qui tam relator is a Senior Manufacturing Engineer in Boeing’s Portland Manufacturing Plant. His complaint, which can be downloaded here, alleges that Boeing knowingly used an unapproved and inadequate lubricant and used unapproved manufacturing processes in making components for civilian-equivalent jet aircraft sold to the United States Air Force. Mr. Berglund’s complaint can be reviewed or downloaded here.
United States ex rel. Clausen v. Laboratory Corporation of America
We represented Jeff Clausen, the owner of a medical testing lab, in a case against a massive competitor. Although we had a mountain of evidence, we lost because we did not have a specific claim submitted to Medicare or Medicaid.
United States ex rel. Faulkner v. O’Gara Hess & Eisenhart Co.
We represented Luke Faulkner, a highly-experienced welder on weapons and aircraft systems, in a case against the company hired by the Army to add armor plating to combat-ready Humvees. Mr. Faulkner identified problems in welds on gun turrets and other armor systems. Although the government did not intervene in the case, we were able to resolve it on behalf of Mr. Faulkner for $1,100,000.
United States ex rel. Gonter v. Hunt Valve Company, General Dynamics, and Northrop Grumman
Tina and Bill Gonter worked for Hunt Valve Company, an Ohio-based manufacturer of valves used in nuclear submarines, Navy ships, and containers for radioactive waste. Hunt Valve is a subcontractor for the ship-building companies, General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman. Because they had worked for the Navy for many years, they knew, when they started working for Hunt, that it was doing things horribly wrong. However, even though Tina was Military Quality Manager, she could not get the company to change, so she contacted Rick
Morgan. We brought a case on their behalf in 2001. Tina wore a wire for the Defense Department for several months, collecting powerful evidence of fraud against the defendants. For reasons never fully explained, the Justice Department did not intervene against the contracting companies, General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman. However, we continued on and settled the case in 2006 for more than $13 million. The image shows some of the documents, seized by the Defense Department, which Tina and our paralegal Mary Jones went through–page by page.
As a result of the combined efforts of the government and the Gonters’ team, two Hunt Valve executives went to federal prison for fraud, hundreds of valves were inspected and, in some cases, repaired, and the Navy changed the way it supervises manufacturers like Hunt.
In early 2008, Tina testified before the United States Senate Judiciary Committee regarding the importance of the False Claims Act and her experiences. You can watch her testimony here, or download the expanded version of it here. In 2007, she was honored by the Ohio Academy of Trial Lawyers as its Citizen of the Year; the Academy’s President wrote this article about Tina’s heroism in March 2008. The Amended Complaint in Tina and Bill’s case can be reviewed or downloaded here.
United States ex rel. Heiser v. Lockheed Martin Corporation
Mr. Glenn Heiser was an engineer for Lockheed Martin at its Akron, Ohio facility when he learned of “misvouchering”–basically, charging work on a fixed-price contract to a time-and-materials contract–on the F-15 program.
United States ex rel. Hopper v. Solvay Pharmaceuticals
In this case, which is pending in Tampa, our clients are former marketing representatives for Solvay Pharmaceuticals. The complaint alleges that Solvay engaged in off-label marketing of its prescription drug Marinol, which is synthetic marijuana. A pdf of the complaint is available here.
United States ex rel. Howard v. Lockheed Martin Corporation
This case, which is currently in very active discovery, involves tooling for the F-22 Stealth Fighter. Our clients are union workers in the Tooling and Tooling Inspection Departments of Lockheed Martin’s Marietta, Georgia aircraft assembly plant. The complaint can be reviewed or downloaded here. The District Court’s decision denying Lockheed Martin’s motion to dismiss the complaint can be reviewed or downloaded here.
United States ex rel. Johnson v. Shell Oil Co.
We were part of a team of lawyers who represented Benji Johnson, who figured out that the larges oil companies were using complex accounting devices to avoid paying the taxpayers proper royalties for oil extracted from publicly-owned land. All-told, the case resulted in the recovery of $440,000,000 against more than 15 oil companies. The Justice Department’s press release summarizing all the recoveries can be viewed here.
United States ex rel. Kaczmerczyk, et al. v. SCCI Hospitals
In this case, we represented four employees of a Long-Term Care Hospital in Houston, Texas. The relators alleged that the defendants entered into financial relationships with physicians hired as “medical directors” which violated the Stark Laws because the payments to the physicians were intended to induce patient referrals. The United States intervened in part of the case, and we litigated certain claims on our own. It was settled in 2007 for a total of $10,000,000, including retaliation claims brought by two of the relators and attorney fees. Here is a link to the Justice Department press release discussing the settlement.
United States ex rel. LeFan, et al. v. The General Electric Company
This product substitution case involved jet engine parts manufactured at GEAE’s Madisonville, Kentucky Turbine Airfoil plant. “Product substitution” is a term which refers to cases where the contractor promised to provide one thing, but is alleged to have provided another. The case was investigated by a large cast of DOJ attorneys and investigators from DCIS, AFOSI, Army CID, and NCIS. The United States intervened in the case, and the qui tam allegations were settled in 2006 for $10,000,000. In January 2008, the federal court awarded almost $2.2 million in attorney fees. General Electric has appealed that order. Click here for a .pdf of the fee opinion.
United States ex rel. Longest v. Dyncorp, Inc.
Since 1991, DynCorp has contracted with the Department of State to run paramilitary operations in foreign countries to eradicate cocaine crop. DynCorp is reimbursed under a cost-plus contract, providing for profitable reimbursement of its allowable costs associated with these operations. Gloria Longest worked in DynCorp’s accounting offices at Patrick Air Force base. The qui tam complaint in this case alleges that the United States was knowingly charged for unallowable costs. The case remains in litigation. Click here for a .pdf of the court’s opinion denying Rule 9(b) dismissal.
United States ex rel. Pogue v. Diabetes Treatment Centers of America
Our client worked for a company which hired medical directors to staff in-hospital diabetes treatment centers. The case remains in litigation.
A number of opinions have been published. To see or download the .pdf, click the opinion you’d like to see. United States ex rel. Pogue v. DTCA (in re. HCA, Inc., 444 F.3d 462 (6th Cir. 2006) (regarding waiver of attorney-client privilege due to production of documents in discovery); United States ex rel. Pogue v. Diabetes Treatment Ctrs. of Am., Inc., 474 F.Supp.2d 75 (D.D.C. 2007) (regarding (1) statute of limitations and (2)Touhy process relating to expert witnesses) ; United States ex rel. Pogue v. Diabetes Treatment Ctrs. of Am., Inc., 235 F.R.D. 521 (D.D.C. 2006); United States ex rel. Pogue v. Diabetes Treatment Ctrs. of Am., Inc., 238 F. Supp. 2d 270 (D.D.C. 2002); United States ex rel. Pogue v. Diabetes Treatment Ctrs. of Am., 238 F. Supp. 2d 258 (D.D.C. 2002).
United States ex rel. Brett Roby v. The Boeing Company
Brett Roby worked as a quality assurance specialist for SPECO, a company which made high-performance gears for Chinook CH-47D helicopter transmissions. He determined that the company was using a steel alloy, Vasco X2M, which was not being properly handled. The result was that gears in helicopters were dangerous, including some which failed in flight. The picture is of one such helicopter, after what the Army calls a “hard landing” during Operation Desert Shield. The United States intervened in our case against Boeing. We worked very closely with the Justice Department and DCIS team on the case, taking hundreds of depositions and reviewing millions of pages of documents. This extraordinary team effort resulted in Boeing’s agreement to pay $61,500,000 in settlement and agreeing to replace the defective transmission gears. Mr. Roby
received a relator’s share of $10,000,000. The image at right shows Brett (and another important whistleblower, Al Campbell) being awarded a “Gold Whistle” Award by United States Senator Charles Grassley in recognition of this service to the United States. Brett was also recognized as a premier “Fraud Buster” by Taxpayers Against Fraud. Mr. Roby’s case is one of the leading authorities on the computation of damages under the False Claims Act, because Boeing claimed that the only responsibility it had was the cost of the gears (about $10,000 each) rather than the value of the helicopter pictured above. The Sixth Circuit’s damage opinion can be downloaded here.
United States ex rel. Smith v. American Management Services
We represented four State of Ohio employees who knew that their agency, the Department of Job and Family Services, was paying federal money to a computer contractor which was using untrained employees and failing to meet contract requirements. Because Ohio does not have a False Claims Act, we were able to recover only the federal portion of the money. The case settled for $1.4 million.