Judge’s Dismissal Rejection “Unprecedented,” DOJ Says

In a brief, attorneys with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said a California federal judge’s refusal to dismiss a False Claims Act case is an “unprecedented decision.”

The judge said DOJ must further investigate a whistleblower lawsuit brought under the False Claims Act before it can dismiss it. But the DOJ’s attorneys say “separation-of-powers principles” afford the Department the ability to dismiss a case it said was rife with “heavy burdens” for discovery and had issues like allegations copied from other court filings. The DOJ’s effort to dismiss the case is a reflection of last year’s Granston Memo, in which DOJ attorneys are instructed to dismiss False Claims whistleblower cases that are deemed “meritless” or “parasitic.”