Judge Tosses FCA Suit Against Fiscal Agent Over Alleged Hospital Medicaid Fraud
BOSTON — A Massachusetts federal judge on June 29 dismissed with prejudice relators’ qui tam suit alleging that a fiscal agent for Rhode Island’s Medicaid program violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by facilitating a scheme by a Rhode Island state hospital to submit false and inflated Medicaid bills for reimbursement, finding that the relators did not adequately plead scienter and failed to allege that the agent “knowingly” caused the submission of the hospital’s false claims.
4th Circuit OKs Quick Appeal On Class Cert Ruling After Trauernicht
RICHMOND, Va. — In a June 29 order without substantive explanation, the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals agreed to allow an interlocutory appeal concerning certification of an opt-out class in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act case where the initial certification of a mandatory class was vacated under the appellate court’s recent Trauernicht v. Genworth Fin. Inc. ruling.
High Court Limits Review In Epic, Apple Antitrust Row To Civil Contempt Holding
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 30 granted certiorari but limited its review to one question in the petition in which Apple Inc. argued that the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals incorrectly affirmed a lower court’s injunctive relief ruling and finding of contempt against Apple over anticompetitive practices on its app store in an antitrust dispute with Epic Games Inc.
Divided Supreme Court Denies Fired Workers’ Challenge To Repealed N.Y. COVID Rule
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A divided U.S. Supreme Court on June 29 denied a petition for writ of certiorari filed by a group of health care workers seeking review of whether a now-repealed New York COVID-19 vaccine regulation violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the U.S. Constitution, with Justice Neil Gorsuch offering a dissent stating that it would have been “well worth” the court’s time to address the case and that correcting the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ interpretation of Title VII “should have been an easy business.”
8th Circuit Affirms ERISA Preempts Arkansas Coverage Requirements
ST. LOUIS — Affirming dismissal of a putative class unjust enrichment suit concerning allegations that a pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) violated Arkansas law, the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on June 29 ruled in part that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act preempts geographic coverage requirements imposed by regulations implementing the law’s network adequacy provision.
Trump Voter List, Mail-In Ballot Directives Blocked In States’ Challenge
BOSTON — A Massachusetts federal judge denied dismissal and granted 23 states and the District of Columbia summary judgment granting declaratory and permanent injunctive relief in their challenge to a voter-data executive order, holding that the states had standing to pursue near-term election claims and that provisions requiring federal citizenship lists and U.S. Postal Service (USPS) mail-ballot restrictions for the 2026 election exceeded presidential authority, while declaring the executive order’s five-year election record preservation language precatory because Congress already has prescribed a record retention and Department of Justice (DOJ) access framework.
U.S. Supreme Court Majority In Class Suit Upholds Birthright Citizenship
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a majority opinion that outlined the extensive history of citizenship in the United States, a divided U.S. Supreme Court on June 30 ruled that children born to parents who are “unlawfully or temporarily present in the United States . . . are citizens at birth” under the U.S. Constitution.
Hearing On Admissibility Of Fingerprint Evidence Ordered By N.J. Supreme Court
TRENTON, N.J. — The New Jersey Supreme Court on June 29 ordered a special adjudicator to hold a hearing to determine whether the fingerprint evidence presented at a burglary trial satisfied the admissibility standards set forth in State v. Olenowski (Olenowski I) but stopped short of overturning a man’s conviction.
Dutch Investors Win $71M In Aluminum Action Against Ukraine
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) on June 29 published a tribunal’s award ordering Ukraine to pay two Dutch investors $71 million in restitution for the 2015 renationalization of their shareholding in aluminum assets, plus interest, arbitration costs and an undisclosed amount of attorney fees, but dismissed their other claims for damages.
Divided Supreme Court Says States May Allow Receipt Of Ballots After Election Day
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Finding that while federal law governs “when ballots must be cast, state law governs when they must be received,” the U.S. Supreme Court in a 5-4 ruling on June 29 held that a COVID-era Mississippi state law providing that mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day may be received by the registrar within five business days of Election Day and still be valid is not preempted by federal law governing elections.
High Court To Address Entitlement To Fees In Habeas Cases Challenging Detention
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 29 granted an immigration detainee‘s petition for a writ of certiorari asking the court to determine whether a prevailing party to a habeas corpus petition challenging civil immigration detention is entitled to its attorney fees and costs under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA).