The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals revived the suit of Engineer Steven Mateski invoking $1 billion Federal False Claims Act against his former employer, Raytheon, for covering up noncompliance on a weather satellite sensor subcontract.
The court said that Mateski, who claimed that the company cheated on a government contract fourteen years ago for billing on erroneous and incomplete sensors used on satellites, has a legal claim against the company.
Mateski had previously claimed that Raytheon mishandled the contract in building the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite sensor for the National Polar-Orbiting Operation Environmental Satellite System (NEPOSS) project, Reuters reported.
According to Judge Michelle Friedland "If his allegations prove to be true, Mr. Mateski will undoubtedly have been one of those whistle-blowing insiders with genuinely valuable information, rather than an opportunistic plaintiff who has no significant information to contribute."
Circuit Judge Michelle Friedland, who wrote for the appeals court, stated "Raytheon maintained an open and transparent relationship with the government throughout our development of this key global technology. The VIIRS sensor is deployed and is providing valuable weather forecasting capabilities."
Friedland said that it would be unfair to the government and whistleblowers to impose a public disclosure bar against False Claims Act lawsuits, such as Mateski's that identified specific instances of fraud where public documents, such as the GAO report, merely described "problems" or even "generalized fraud."
The court also stated that the whistleblower's claims go beyond publicly disclosed problems in developing the National Polar Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System, which suffered from delays and cost overruns.
Moreover, the court also believed that Mr. Mateski's claims over NEPOSS program, which suffered numerous setbacks and cost increases, deserve further inquiry and review.
The case was dismissed by U.S. District Judge Otis Wright in February 2013.
The False Claims Act, also called the Lincoln Law, creates liability on persons and companies who defrauded the governmental programs. It is the federal Government's primary litigation tool in battling fraud against the Government. It includes a qui tam provision that allows, relators, people who are not affiliated with the government to file actions on behalf of the government. While relator becomes whistleblower when he is employed by the organization accused in the suit.
The case is U.S. ex rel Mateski v. Raytheon Co, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 13-55341.
