TheCorporateCounsel.net

On Monday, the DOJ announced a “Civil Rights Fraud Initiative” that will use the False Claims Act to “investigate and, as appropriate, pursue claims against any recipient of federal funds that knowingly violates federal civil rights laws.” While the DOJ’s announcement focuses on educational institutions, this McGuire Woods blog notes that government contractors may also find themselves in the crosshairs:

Under this new initiative, implemented through a memorandum issued by the Deputy Attorney General, DOJ will utilize the FCA to investigate and pursue claims against federal contractors and funding recipients (e.g., grants, cooperative agreements, etc.) that “knowingly violate[] federal civil rights laws.” A central focus of the initiative appears to be pursuing claims against entities who certify compliance with civil rights laws while “knowingly” engaging in what the memorandum implementing the initiative calls “racist preferences, mandates, policies, programs, and activities, including thorough [DEI] programs” that provide benefits based on race, ethnicity, or national origin.

The blog says that the DOJ will coordinate with other federal agencies, and will establish partnerships with state attorney generals and local law enforcement to share information and coordinate enforcement actions. Traditionally, qui tam actions brought by private “whistleblowers” have featured prominently in FCA actions, and in the DOJ’s announcement of this new initiative, it said that it “strongly encourages anyone with knowledge of discrimination by federal funding recipients to consider filing a qui tam action under the False Claims Act.”

– John Jenkins