The Qui Tam Team

A current case in the Supreme Court could reform the legal threshold for potential whistleblowers to file qui tam False Claims suits. Graham County Soil & Water Conservation District, et al. v. United States ex rel. Wilson involved an employee of the Graham County Soil and Water Conservation District, who claims her employer misused relief funds from a 1995 storm. However, much of the information and documents she bases her claim upon is publicly available.

The issue of the case before the Supreme Court falls under the scope of whether documents and information that are publicly available from the state and local level should be allowed to form the basis of qui tam suits. There is a ban on information that is publicly available, but the 4th Circuit, who earlier heard the case, found that the ban only applies to public information from Federal agencies.

Read more:

http://www.mainjustice.com/2009/12/07/supreme-court-ponders-scope-of-whistleblower-cases/

http://www.lawmemo.com/supreme/case/GrahamCounty/