Court Opinion

ID: 9439289
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-03 06:30:16.645146+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:26:17.427780
License: Public Domain

RANDOLPH, Circuit Judge,
concurring:
I agree with all the court has written in its thorough opinion, but I believe a bit more is needed to highlight the problem we leave to the district court - namely, “whether [a False Claims Act] plaintiff can prevail by proving only that a false claim was submitted to a federal grantee (such as Amtrak), as defined in [31 U.S.C. § 3729(c) ], without further demonstrating that the claim was submitted (or resubmitted) to the federal government, as suggested by the text of [31 U.S.C. § 3729(a)(1) ].” Maj. op. at 546. Dicta in United States ex rel. Yesudian v. Howard Univ., 153 F.3d 731, 737-39 (D.C.Cir.1998), intimates that presenting a claim to any federal grantee is the equivalent to presenting a claim to the federal government. If the reasons given in Yesudian are all that can be said for this far-reaching conclusion, I would have much difficulty in accepting it.
Those liable under the False Claims Act include any person who “knowingly presents, or causes to be presented” - and here is the key language - “to an officer or employee of the United States government” a false claim. 31 U.S.C. § 3729(a)(1). Without more, this language would not seem to cover instances in which the false claim is presented to a federal grantee, at least in instances when the grantee did not turn over the claim for reimbursement by the federal government. That may describe the alleged situation here, although we cannot be sure until the plaintiff amends his complaint. It is true that § 3729(c) defines “claim” to include claims submitted to federal grantees.* *554But it is equally true that no matter how “claim” is defined, subsection (a)(1) requires the alleged false claimant to present it (or cause it to be presented) to a federal officer or employee.
Two points, neither of which Yesudian highlighted, seem to me of critical importance in construing § 3729. The Attorney General is authorized to sue under the statute in the first instance, or to take over suits brought by private parties on behalf of the federal government (qui tarn actions), or to allow the private party to prosecute the action on its own. See Vermont Agency of Natural Resources v. United States ex rel. Stevens, 529 U.S. 765, 769, 120 S.Ct. 1858, 1860-61, 146 L.Ed.2d 836 (2000). If a judgment is rendered against the defendant - and this is the first point - the award of damages is paid to the federal treasury (less a percentage if a private party initiated the action). The second point is that the Act authorizes treble damages plus a civil penalty. If the Act allows suits on claims presented to federal grantees but not presented for payment to the federal government, these two features of the Act lead to a glaring incongruity. To illustrate, suppose the plaintiff in this case prevailed. The recovery would go to the plaintiff and the federal government. Amtrak would recover nothing. Yet the theory of plaintiffs ease, as far as we can make out at the moment, is that Amtrak suffered the loss. Presumably, Amtrak would therefore be able to sue the defendants on its own and if its suit were as meritorious as the relator’s, it too would recover damages. The effect would be a quadruple damage award - Amtrak’s recovery plus the treble damages awarded under the False Claims Act.
This is the consequence of the construction suggested in Yesudian and, at the moment, it seems to me at odds with the structure of the Act. On the other hand, requiring that the United States have suffered losses by paying false claims presented to it by the federal grantee avoids this interpretative difficulty, remains faithful to the language of § 3729(a)(1) & (c) and is entirely consistent with the provision in the Act measuring damages not in terms of a grantee’s losses, but by “the amount of damages which the Government sustains....” 31 U.S.C. § 3729(a). I hesitate to reach a firm conclusion, however, because we have not had sufficient briefing and argument on the issue and because it may turn out not to be an issue in the case when it is reformulated in the district court.

 A "claim” includes any "request or demand ... for money ... made to a contractor, grantee, or other recipient if the United States *554Government provides any portion of the money or property which is requested or demanded, or if the Government will reimburse such contractor, grantee, or other recipient for any portion of the money or property which is requested or demanded.” 31 U.S.C. § 3729(c).