U.S. ex rel. Heath v. Wisconsin Bell, Inc.

Dist. Ct. erred in granting defendant-telephone company’s motion for summary judgment in plaintiff’s False Claims Act action, alleging that defendant charged schools and libraries more than what was allowed under federal program that required that defendant charge schools/libraries telephone rates that were less or equal to rates defendant charged to similarly situated non-residential entities. While Dist. Ct. found that plaintiff failed to show existence of any customers that were charged lower rates and were similarly situated to schools and libraries that were charged higher rates, Ct. of Appeals found that plaintiff did provide specific evidence showing that certain school and libraries were charged more than certain non-residential customers, and that proposed comparable entities appeared to be similarly situated. Also, plaintiff’s evidence that defendant had no method or procedure in place to comply with federal program requirements during relevant period supported his claim that defendant had acted with reckless disregard for truth or falsity of claims it had submitted for federal reimbursement. Ct. rejected defendant’s contention that alleged falsity of claims was not sufficiently material, where government had continued paying said claims while it was aware of plaintiff’s allegations.