United States ex rel. Oliver v. Parsons Co.

Janet C. Oliver, plaintiff qui tam, appeals the district court’s denial of her motion for summary judgment and its grant of summary judgment in favor of defen *1103 dants The Parsons Company, Parsons Engineering Science, Inc., Parsons Environmental Services, Inc., and Ralph M. Parsons Company (collectively, “Parsons”). The district court held that Parsons’ cost accounting practices did not give rise to a claim under the False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. § 8729 (West 1999) (“the Act”) because Parsons employed a “reasonable interpretation” of the applicable regulations and because the facts alleged failed to meet the scienter requirement.

This court has jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We hold that the district court erred in applying a “reasonable interpretation” approach to determining falsity under the Act and that genuine issues of material fact exist regarding whether Parsons “knowingly” submitted a false claim. We therefore REVERSE and REMAND for further proceedings in accordance with this opinion.

I

FACTS

Oliver was an accountant for The Parsons Company (“TPC”). She now sues on behalf of the United States, claiming that Parsons knowingly violated the federal Cost…