Eighth Circuit Rejects Justice Department Efforts to Avoid Paying Relators’ Share on Settlement “Unrelated” to Relators’ Qui Tam Claims

March 11 2013  |   Parker Eastin  |  Uncategorized  |  Comments Off on Eighth Circuit Rejects Justice Department Efforts to Avoid Paying Relators’ Share on Settlement “Unrelated” to Relators’ Qui Tam Claims

The Justice Department (“DOJ”) recently received a signifcant rebuke from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.  After releasing  Hewlett-Packard Company from further FCA liability in return for a $55 million settlement, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals held that DOJ would have to pay a large portion of that settlement to the Relators, which far exceded the limited “share” payment DOJ wanted to make.  The court squarely rejected the government’s myriad arguments on the issue — including that Relators were not entitled to any recovery on certain qui tam allegations because they lacked the particularity required by Rule 9(b).  This ultimately means that DOJ has to pay the Relators $8.8 million, as opposed to the $1.9 million it wanted to pay.

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