BLOG: SCOTUS Strengthens Protections for Federal Government Contractors Under FOIA
The Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA” or “the Act”) provides private citizens access to information in the possession of government agencies that is not otherwise publicly available.Unfortunately, an agency’s disclosure can potentially include confidential information of a government contractor, such as proposal content, pricing structures, and other proprietary material. Such disclosures are concerning because publicly disclosed information can be used by competitors to the great detriment of the contractor. Luckily for contractors, FOIA’s power is not unlimited. Indeed, Congress restricted . . . Read More
BLOG: This Project Is Behind Schedule – What Is a Contractor to Do?
Construction projects rarely, if ever, go precisely as planned. One of the most common issues government contractors face is falling behind schedule. A schedule is developed, and then the contractor is confronted with differing site conditions, changes, or a litany of other causes of delay. The contract completion date that seemed easily achievable when performance began may now appear to be impossible to meet. What should a government contractor do to ensure they are compensated and to avoid liquidated damages? The . . . Read More
Weekly Update for Government Contractors and Commercial Businesses – August 5, 2019
If you have questions concerning the content below, please visit this link . FALSE CLAIMS ACT / LITIGATION / CYBERSECURITY & DATA PRIVACY Have the Flood Gates Opened?: Cisco Settles First-Of-Its-Kind Cybersecurity False Claims Act Litigation, August 2, 2019, Matthew Feinberg On July 31, 2019, a False Claims Act matter pending in the United States District Court for the Western District of New York was unsealed, revealing an $8.6 million settlement that may have far-reaching implications for government contractors. The litigation, United States, et al., ex rel. James Glenn v. Cisco . . . Read More
BLOG: Have the Flood Gates Opened?: Cisco Settles First-Of-Its-Kind Cybersecurity False Claims Act Litigation
On July 31, 2019, a False Claims Act matter pending in the United States District Court for the Western District of New York was unsealed, revealing an $8.6 million settlement that may have far-reaching implications for government contractors. The litigation, United States, et al., ex rel. James Glenn v. Cisco Systems, Inc., was initiated in 2011 on behalf of the federal government and a number of state governments, after a Denmark-based employee of a Cisco affiliate was terminated allegedly for reporting . . . Read More
Law360 Quotes PilieroMazza’s Lauren Brier: DoD ‘Flaws’ Open Door For JEDI Appeal
Oracle may have lost its recent protest over the Pentagon’s procurement process for the $10 billion JEDI cloud system contract, but a judge’s finding of a “flawed” solicitation could open up several potential avenues for an appeal. . . . Given the amount of money at stake, Oracle may be encouraged to glom on to, for example, Judge Bruggink’s finding that the DOD’s top acquisition official had provided a “flawed” legal justification to support the department’s decision to make the . . . Read More
Ex Rel. Radio – Cybersecurity, Implied Certifications, and the False Claims Act
Weekly Update for Government Contractors and Commercial Businesses – July 29, 2019
If you have questions concerning the content below, please visit this link . FALSE CLAIMS ACT / LITIGATION PODCAST: PilieroMazza’s GovCon Live! presents “Ex Rel. Radio,” our multi-part series on the False Claims Act, which will include commentary on potential pitfalls for your company, enforcement issues, and emerging trends. Please subscribe to one of our podcast accounts – Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Google Podcasts , TuneIn , or Stitcher – to receive a notification when the first podcast in this series, “Cybersecurity, Implied Certifications, and the False Claims Act,” with Isaias Alba , David . . . Read More
BLOG: Court of Federal Claims Denies Oracle Protest of JEDI Contract: Is This It For Oracle?
The Department of Defense (“DoD”) first released the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (“JEDI”) cloud contract on July 26, 2018. One main purpose of the JEDI contract, as listed in the DoD’s published “Determination and Findings,” was to acquire foundational commercial cloud technologies that would “enable war fighters to better execute a mission that is increasingly dependent on the exploitation of information.” With this purpose in mind, the DoD made a controversial decision to move forward with a single-award approach to . . . Read More
BLOG: EEOC Announces New EEO-1 Pay Data Reporting Deadline
September 30, 2019 marks the newly announced deadline for employers who submit annual EEO-1 reports to report employee 2018 pay data to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The EEOC revealed the new deadline in a federal court submission last week. UPDATE: Since the original blog on this topic was published, the court issued an order confirming the September 30, 2019 deadline, and requiring the EEOC to collect a second year of data in addition to the 2018 pay information. The EEOC has also . . . Read More
BLOG: Better Late Than Never, But Never Late Is Better: Understanding FAR’s Government Control Exceptions to Late Proposals
PilieroMazza attorneys have seen a number of government contractor clients encounter the same problem: They timely emailed a proposal to a government agency, but, for reasons unknown, the proposal was delivered late or was never received by the Contracting Officer (“CO”). There, the CO normally enforces the Federal Acquisition Regulation’s (“FAR”) strict “Late is Late” policy and rejects the proposal. Fortunately, in certain circumstances, it is possible to employ the Government Control Exception to salvage allegedly late proposals; however, the Government Accountability . . . Read More