Opinion ID: 159646
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Work Orders

Text: 40 Defendants first contend that only claims submitted for the purpose of receiving payment are actionable under the FCA, and because AAA's submission of work orders did not serve that purpose, they cannot form the basis for Shaw's FCA claim. They assert the work orders were submitted merely as a record of work requested and work performed. Moreover, Defendants argue that the work orders did not contribute towards AAA's receipt of the equitable adjustment; rather, the equitable adjustment settlement was based solely on the government's decision that with one-and-a-half additional employees plus additional supplies, AAA could have timely performed the work which it claimed exceeded the government's estimates in the contract. The Defendants thus contend that even if some of the work orders were false and fraudulent records, because they were not linked to any payment from the government, they could not be the basis for FCA liability. 41 This argument fails, however, because the purported provision of work exceeding the government's estimates, which AAA proved by reference to work orders, prompted the award of an equitable adjustment for some amount. COs Hammond and Nicewander both testified they relied on the work orders in deciding to grant an equitable adjustment. CO Dan Gaston also testified that if the production quantity numbers on the work orders were falsely inflated, this would have a direct impact on an equitable adjustment request which was based on workload. Simply because the production quantities recorded on the work orders did not determine the exact amount of the settlement does not eradicate a connection between the work orders and the equitable adjustment. This court thus concludes that the work orders were submitted, at least in part, to justify AAA's request for the equitable adjustment payment. 42 Defendants' second argument is that the work orders do not constitute false or fraudulent records because the numbers on the orders with which the government disagreed during the joint count merely reflected AAA's different interpretation of the contract. Defendants point out that this dispute arose because AAA wanted to include certain items on the work orders which the QAEs thought should not be counted under the terms of the contract. This argument, however, entirely ignores the substantial evidence, which we must view in a light most favorable to Shaw, indicating that the numbers AAA recorded on the work orders represented work that was never actually performed, not merely work which might not justify compensation pursuant to the contract. This evidence gave rise to an inference that the work orders were deliberately or recklessly 11 altered for the purpose of causing the government to pay additional sums in the form of an equitable adjustment. See id. 3729(a)(2), (b). There was thus sufficient evidence to support a finding by the jury that some of the work orders were false records submitted in order to get a false claim paid. See id. 3729(a)(2).