United States Ex Rel. Swan v. Covenant Care, Inc.

MEMORANDUM OF OPINION AND ORDER

Plaintiff Ila Swan (“Swan”) brings this action on behalf of the United States against defendant Covenant Care, Inc. and related corporations (collectively “Covenant Care”) under the false records provision of the False Claims Act (“FCA”), 31 U.S.C. § 3729 (a)(2). Swan alleges that Covenant Care routinely falsified patient records in order to conceal staffing and funding shortages which resulted in inadequate patient care at Emerald Gardens, Covenant Care’s Sacramento nursing home facility. Covenant Care argues that Swan’s claim falls under the public disclosure bar of the FCA, § 3730(e)(4)(A), which “limits qui tam jurisdiction to those cases in which the relator played a role in exposing a fraud of which the public was previously unaware,” because her allegations of records falsification were publicly disclosed in a civil lawsuit filed by a former Emerald Gardens patient prior to the filing of her FCA action. See United States ex rel. Findley v. FPC-Boron Employees’ Club, 105 F.3d 675, 678 (D.C.Cir.1997). Covenant Care also moves, in the alternative, for summary judgment, arguing that Swan’s allegations do not support FCA liability under §…