U.S. v. Sanford-Brown, Ltd.

Dist. Ct. did not err in granting defendant-college’s motion for summary judgment in False Claims Act action by plaintiff-former employee of defendant, alleging that defendant’s student recruiting and retention practices resulted in transmission of thousands of false claims for receipt of federal subsidies under Title IV of Higher Education Act. Plaintiff failed to show that at time defendant entered into agreement with govt. that it intended to defraud govt. and then planned to use said agreement to submit false claims for payment. Moreover, any alleged failure by defendant to follow terms of agreement with govt. that took place after defendant’s good-faith intent to follow same, establishes, at most, defendant’s breach of contract, which is insufficient to establish liability under False Claims Act. Also, Dist. Ct. did not err in dismissing portion of plaintiff’s complaint that concerned defendant’s alleged conduct that occurred both before and after plaintiff’s employment with defendant, where plaintiff conceded that his allegations had been publicly disclosed, and where plaintiff failed to show that he was original source of said allegations.