Source: https://www.bafirm.com/practice-areas/qui-tam-litigation/federal-state-county-and-city-acts/district-of-columbia-procurement-reform-amendment-act/
Timestamp: 2019-04-21 02:49:26+00:00

Document:
(5) “Proceeds” means civil penalties as well as double or treble damages as provided in § 2-381.02, and criminal fines pursuant to § 2-381.09.
(3) Claims, records, or statements made pursuant to those portions of Title 47 of the District of Columbia Official Code that refer or relate to taxation.
§ 2-381.03. Corporation counsel investigations and prosecutions; powers of prosecuting authority; civil actions by individuals as qui tam plaintiffs; jurisdiction of courts.
(a) The Corporation Counsel shall investigate, with such assistance from other District agencies as may be required, violations pursuant to § 2-381.02 involving District funds. If the Corporation Counsel finds that a person has violated or is violating the provisions of § 2-381.02, the Corporation Counsel may bring a civil action against that person in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.
(b)(1) A person may bring a civil action for a violation of § 2-381.02 for the person and either for the District or in the name of the District. The person bringing the action shall be referred to as the qui tam plaintiff. Once filed, the action brought by the qui tam plaintiff may be dismissed only with the written consent of the court, taking into account the best interest of the parties involved and the public disclosure purposes of this subpart. The Corporation Counsel shall be served with the notice of proposed dismissal and shall have the opportunity to be heard.
(c)(1) No person may bring an action pursuant to subsection (b) of this section against a member of the Council of the District of Columbia (“Council”), a member of the District judiciary, or an elected official in the executive branch of the District, if the action is based on any official act occurring during his or her term of office.
(2)(A) No person may bring an action pursuant to subsection (b) of this section based upon allegations or transactions in a criminal, civil, or administrative proceeding, investigation, or report, or audit conducted by or at the request of the Council, the Auditor, the Inspector General, or other District or federal agency; or upon allegations or transactions disclosed by the news media, unless the person bringing the action is an original source of the information.
(d)(1) If the District proceeds with the action, it shall have the primary responsibility for prosecuting the action. The qui tam plaintiff shall have the right to continue as a party to the action and to participate in the action to the extent that the qui tam plaintiff is able to demonstrate to the court that such participation would neither be duplicative of nor interfere with the prosecution of the action by the Corporation Counsel; provided, that the qui tam action was proper pursuant to subsection (c) of this section.
(2)(A) The District may dismiss the action for good cause shown.
(e)(1) If the District elects not to proceed and the qui tam action was proper pursuant to subsection (c) of this section, the qui tam plaintiff shall have the same right to conduct the action as the Corporation Counsel would have had if he or she had chosen to proceed pursuant to subsection (b) of this section. If the District so requests, the District shall be served with copies of all pleadings filed in the action.
(f)(1) If the District proceeds with an action brought by a qui tam plaintiff pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, and the qui tam action was proper pursuant to subsection (c) of this section, the qui tam plaintiff, subject to paragraphs (3) and (4) of this subsection, shall receive at least 10%, but not more than 25%, of the proceeds of the judgment or settlement of the claim, taking into account the significance of the information, the role of the qui tam plaintiff in advancing the litigation, the qui tam plaintiff’s attempts to avoid or resist such activity, and all other circumstances surrounding the activity, except, that if the qui tam plaintiff was substantially involved in the fraudulent activity on which the action is based, the court may direct that the plaintiff receive less than 10%.
(g) In any action brought pursuant to this section, the court may stay discovery if the Corporation Counsel or the United States Attorney’s Office shows that discovery would interfere with an investigation or a prosecution of a criminal matter arising out of the same facts, regardless of whether the Corporation Counsel or the United States Attorney’s Office has pursued the criminal or civil investigation or proceedings with reasonable diligence, and any proposed discovery in the civil action will interfere with the ongoing criminal or civil investigation or proceedings.
§ 2-381.04. Employer interference with employee disclosures; liability of employer; remedies of employee.
(a) No employer, including the District of Columbia, shall make, adopt, or enforce any rule, regulation, or policy preventing an employee from disclosing information to a government or law enforcement agency concerning, or from acting in furtherance of, a false claims action, including investigating, initiating, testifying, or assisting in an action filed or to be filed pursuant to § 2-381.03.
(b) No employer, including the District of Columbia, shall discharge, demote, suspend, threaten, harass, deny promotion to, or in any other manner discriminate against an employee in the terms and conditions of employment because of lawful acts done by the employee on behalf of the employee or others in disclosing information to a government or law enforcement agency relating to, or in furtherance of, a false claims action, including investigation of, initiation of, or testimony or assistance in, an action filed or to be filed pursuant to § 2-381.03.
(2) The employee had been harassed, threatened with termination or demotion, or otherwise coerced by the employer or its management into engaging in the activity giving rise to the false claim.
(a) A civil action brought pursuant to § 2-381.03 may not be filed more than 6 years after the date on which the violation of § 2-381.02 is committed or more than 3 years after the date when facts material to the right of action are known or reasonably should have been known by an official of the Office of Corporation Counsel, but in no event more than 9 years after the date on which the violation is committed, whichever occurs last.
(4) When the testimony is fully transcribed, the false claims law investigator or the officer before whom the testimony is taken shall afford the witness, who may be accompanied by an attorney, a reasonable opportunity to examine and read the transcript, unless such examination and reading are waived by the witness. Any changes in form or substance that the witness desires shall be entered and identified upon the transcript by the officer or the false claims law investigator, with a statement of the reasons given by the witness for making such changes. The transcript shall then be signed by the witness, unless the witness in writing waives the signing, is ill, cannot be found, or refuses to sign. If the transcript is not signed by the witness within 30 days after being afforded a reasonable opportunity to examine it, the officer or the false claims law investigator shall sign it and state on the record the fact of the waiver, illness, absence of the witness, or the refusal to sign, together with the reasons, if any, given therefore.
(6) Upon payment of reasonable charges therefore, the false claims law investigator shall furnish a copy of the transcript to the witness only, except that the Corporation Counsel may, for good cause, limit such witness to inspection of the official transcript of the witness’s testimony.
(j)(1) The Corporation Counsel shall designate a false claims law investigator to serve as custodian of documentary material, answers to interrogatories, and transcripts of oral testimony received pursuant to this section, and shall designate such additional false claims law investigators as the Corporation Counsel determines from time to time to be necessary to serve as deputies to the custodian.
(k)(1) Whenever any person fails to comply with any civil investigative demand, or whenever satisfactory copying or reproduction of any material requested in such demand cannot be done and such person refuses to surrender such material, the Corporation Counsel may file in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia and serve upon such person a petition for an order of such court for the enforcement of the civil investigative demand.
(3) “False claims law” means § 2-301.03 and this subchapter.
Whoever makes or presents to any officer or employee of the District of Columbia government, or to any department or agency thereof, any claim upon or against the District of Columbia, or any department or agency thereof, knowing such claim to be false, fictitious, or fraudulent, shall be imprisoned not more than one year and assessed a fine of not more than $100,000 for each violation of this chapter. The Corporation Counsel shall prosecute violations of this section.

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