United States v. Northrop Corp.

This appeal presents the question of whether the equitable tolling provision of the False Claims Act statute of limitations ap *1213 plies to a qui tam plaintiff as well as to the government. We conclude that it does, but that for the qui tam plaintiff the limitations period runs from the date the plaintiff knew or reasonably should have known of the facts material to the right of action. Thus, we affirm the district court’s dismissal, albeit on different grounds.

Background

Qui tam plaintiff Michael A. Hyatt (“Hyatt”) worked as an engineer at Northrop Corporation (“Northrop”) from August of 1981 to May 13, 1986. In late 1982, Hyatt reported to his superiors his concerns that the Inertial Measurement Unit used in the Peacekeeper (“MX”) missile program was defective in its design, development and manufacture. He alleges that soon thereafter he began to suffer harassment in retaliation for his report. Northrop terminated Hyatt on May 13,1986.

Hyatt filed his first complaint against Northrop on October 3, 1986 (“Hyatt I ”) asserting, among other claims, a qui tam action under the False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. §§ 3729 et seq. (“FCA” or “Act”). Included in the complaint was an…