December 20th, 2017

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US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Opinions
Solomon v. Lockheed Martin Corp.

Docket: 17-10046
Opinion Date: December 19, 2017
Judge: Leslie H. Southwick
Areas of Law: Government Contracts

The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's holding that it lacked jurisdiction over relator's claims based on the public disclosure bar of the False Claims Act (FCA). Relator filed suit against his employer Northrop Grumman and against Lockheed Martin for making false claims against the government. The court held that it lacked jurisdiction to hear relator's claims because he failed to demonstrate that he was the original source of the Systems Design and Development contract. In this case, the record made clear that relator derived his knowledge about the connection between cost performance and award fees from portions of the contract that were publicly disclosed before he filed his complaint.

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