United States of America, Ex Rel., Roland Gibeault Inge Maudal v. Texas Instruments Corp., a Delaware Corporation

ORDER

The petition for rehearing filed February 2, 1994, is granted. Upon hearing further oral argument and examining supplementary briefs and other materials, the prior opinion of this court filed January 19, 1994, is withdrawn. A revised opinion is attached to this order and is filed as the opinion of this court in this case.

OPINION

In October of 1989, Roland Gibeault and Inge Maudal brought a qui tam action against Texas Instruments [T.I.], alleging it defrauded the United States by making false claims under a contract with the United States Navy. Throughout the course of the litigation, the United States declined to intervene under §§ 3730(b)(2) and (c)(3) of the False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. § 3730 [the Act]. In December of 1992, Gibeault and Maudal reached a settlement agreement with T.I., in which T.I. agreed to pay their counsel $300,-000 in exchange for a dismissal with prejudice and a stipulation that any deficiencies in its products were remedied to the government’s satisfaction. The Attorney General objected to the settlement, but did not seek to intervene in the action. The district court held a hearing on the settlement. The district court ruled the government…