The Supreme Court has granted certiorari to hear a challenge to the constitutionality of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). While the CFPB won in the Ninth Circuit, the agency has since changed its mind and now agrees that its structure, which makes the single director of an independent agency removable only for cause, is unconstitutional, and also asked the Court to grant certiorari. … More
On November 6, 2019, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument for Retirement Plans Committee of IBM v. Jander to expand on its “more harm than good” pleading standard articulated in Fifth Third Bancorp v. Dudenhoeffer. Both Dudenhoeffer and Jander deal with employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs), retirement plans which primarily invest in the stock of the company that employs the plan participants. … More
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump signed two executive orders (titled Promoting the Rule of Law Through Transparency and Fairness in Civil Administrative Enforcement and Adjudication and Promoting the Rule of Law Through Improved Agency Guidance Documents) that require agencies to publish all informal guidance online and to limit its use in enforcement actions. In his Oval Office signing ceremony,… More
As data breaches are seemingly reported on a daily basis, cybersecurity has emerged as a top enforcement priority for federal and state regulators and a key concern for companies of all sizes in a diverse range of industries. For example, compliance with federal cybersecurity regulations is required by nearly every government contract and the New York Division of Financial Services adopted a vast set of regulations that is applicable to all entities operating under NYDFS licensure.… More
This is a follow-up to our September 13, 2019 post discussing the DOJ guidance on corporate claims of inability to pay.
On Tuesday, October 8, 2019, the Department of Justice provided guidance on how its prosecutors should evaluate claims of corporate poverty. This comes on the heels of Deputy Assistant Attorney General Matthew Miner’s comments last month suggesting that further guidance on corporate poverty claims was forthcoming. … More
Thanks to inexact language in a settlement agreement, a for-profit hospital chain can challenge whistleblowers’ eligibility for attorneys’ fees under the False Claims Act (“FCA”). The single sentence that spawned nearly 5 years of litigation was: “All Parties agree that nothing in this Paragraph or this Agreement shall be construed in any way to release, waive or otherwise affect the ability of CHS to challenge or object to [whistleblower’s] claims for attorneys’ fees,… More
On September 18, 2019, the Department of Justice announced a $21.36 million settlement to resolve a False Claims Act (“FCA”) lawsuit alleging a fraudulent kickback scheme through which a pharmaceutical company (Patient Care America, or “PCA”) induced doctors to write expensive and unnecessary prescriptions to military veterans. A False Claims Act settlement of this magnitude is not unusual, particularly in the healthcare industry (which accounted for $2.5 billion of the DOJ’s $2.8 billion in FCA settlements and judgments in 2018).… More