BLOG: Have the Flood Gates Opened?: Cisco Settles First-Of-Its-Kind Cybersecurity False Claims Act Litigation
On July 31, 2019, a False Claims Act matter pending in the United States District Court for the Western District of New York was unsealed, revealing an $8.6 million settlement that may have far-reaching implications for government contractors. The litigation, United States, et al., ex rel. James Glenn v. Cisco Systems, Inc., was initiated in 2011 on behalf of the federal government and a number of state governments, after a Denmark-based employee of a Cisco affiliate was terminated allegedly for reporting . . . Read More
BLOG: Court of Federal Claims Denies Oracle Protest of JEDI Contract: Is This It For Oracle?
The Department of Defense (“DoD”) first released the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (“JEDI”) cloud contract on July 26, 2018. One main purpose of the JEDI contract, as listed in the DoD’s published “Determination and Findings,” was to acquire foundational commercial cloud technologies that would “enable war fighters to better execute a mission that is increasingly dependent on the exploitation of information.” With this purpose in mind, the DoD made a controversial decision to move forward with a single-award approach to . . . Read More
BLOG: Better Late Than Never, But Never Late Is Better: Understanding FAR’s Government Control Exceptions to Late Proposals
PilieroMazza attorneys have seen a number of government contractor clients encounter the same problem: They timely emailed a proposal to a government agency, but, for reasons unknown, the proposal was delivered late or was never received by the Contracting Officer (“CO”). There, the CO normally enforces the Federal Acquisition Regulation’s (“FAR”) strict “Late is Late” policy and rejects the proposal. Fortunately, in certain circumstances, it is possible to employ the Government Control Exception to salvage allegedly late proposals; however, the Government Accountability . . . Read More
BLOG: Cybersecurity, Implied Certifications, and the False Claims Act
As I am sure many of you know and have read about already, the first False Claims Act (“FCA”) case, US Ex rel. Markus v. AeroJet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc., et al., No. 2:15-cv-2245, has been filed in the Eastern District of California by a disgruntled former Director of Cyber Security Compliance and Controls, and it survived a motion to dismiss in May of this year. When the existence of the AeroJet case is layered over the U.S. Supreme Court’s findings in Universal Health Servs., . . . Read More
BLOG: How Government Contractors Can Take Advantage of CPARS Trends to Win (and Maintain) Federal Contracts
On July 18, 2019, the Professional Services Council hosted an important event covering Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (“CPARS”) trends, their impact on contractor past performance ratings, and the consequence they have on winning federal contracts. As one of the speakers at this event, PilieroMazza’s Samuel Finnerty offered recommendations on what government contractors can do now to proactively engage and manage their CPARS ratings and position themselves for future growth. One of the most interesting trends discussed was the sharp decline . . . Read More
BLOG: Impact of California Consumer Privacy Act on Government Contractors and Commercial Businesses
The California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) will go into effect on January 1, 2020. Similar to the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), CCPA creates significant compliance challenges for government contractors and commercial businesses doing business in California, with several states following suit. Under CCPA, fines from the Attorney General for businesses that do not comply could be as high as $7,500 per violation, with CCPA also granting consumers the right to bring private action, exposing companies to actual and . . . Read More
BLOG: Long-Awaited Proposed Rule for Lower-Tier Subcontracting Plan Credit Finally Arrives to the FAR
The FAR Council is beginning to catch up with the SBA’s allowance that prime contractors with small business subcontracting plans may take credit for lower-tier small business subcontracting—albeit, three years behind schedule. PilieroMazza attorneys will monitor and report on these developments, which could affect prime contractors and their subcontracting plan reporting, as well as their ability to win and maintain government contracts. In 2016, SBA issued its final rule implementing directives found in the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to . . . Read More
BLOG: SBA Issues Proposed Rule Changing Receipts Calculation to 5 Years, Implementing Small Business Runway Extension Act
On June 24, 2019, the Small Business Administration (SBA) published its long-awaited proposed rule changing the period of measurement for a receipts-based size calculation from three years to five years. This change was prompted by the Small Business Runway Extension Act (the Runway Act), which became law on December 17, 2018. SBA was slow to implement this change because SBA believes that the Runway Act amended a section of the Small Business Act that does not apply to SBA. “Nevertheless,” SBA says, . . . Read More
BLOG: What Will Happen to the DoD’s Mentor-Protégé Program?
As many of our clients know, there are several mentor-protégé programs run either by the SBA or specific agencies that are intended to help small businesses develop and enhance their ability to serve as a prime contractor or subcontractor in federal contracts. For example, the SBA has the 8(a) mentor-protégé program and the all-small mentor-protégé program, and it also approves agency mentor-protégé programs, such as the Department of Homeland Security’s program, which is designed to help small businesses obtain and . . . Read More
BLOG: Halting Employee’s Right to Report Cybersecurity Noncompliance Can Land Government Contractors in Hot Water
Last week signaled a potential rude awakening for government contractors subject to cybersecurity requirements. A California U.S. district court ruled that allegations against Aerojet Rocketdyne could progress following a former employee’s complaint that the company terminated his employment after he disclosed cybersecurity failures to the company’s board of directors and refused to sign documents indicating that the company was compliant. Among the employee’s chief allegations is a charge that the company violated the False Claims Act by falsely representing its . . . Read More