Northrop Corp. v. United States

38 Cont. Cas. Fed. 76,491, 27 Fed. Cl. 795, 1993 U.S. Claims LEXIS 297, 1993 WL 75153
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedMarch 17, 1993
DocketNo. 91-1035C
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 38 Cont. Cas. Fed. 76,491 (Northrop Corp. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Northrop Corp. v. United States, 38 Cont. Cas. Fed. 76,491, 27 Fed. Cl. 795, 1993 U.S. Claims LEXIS 297, 1993 WL 75153 (uscfc 1993).

Opinion

ORDER

YOCK, Judge.

This Government contract case comes before this Court on plaintiff’s motion for certification of an interlocutory appeal, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1292(d)(2) (1988), and for a lifting of the stay, issued by this Court on March 20, 1992, for the purpose of allowing discovery to proceed. Specifically, the plaintiff here requests certification of the question of whether the United States Court of Federal Claims has jurisdiction over qui tam plaintiffs who have asserted False Claims Act allegations against a Government contractor. In addition, the plaintiff also asks that this Court allow the parties to resume discovery for the dispute in the case at bar. For the following reasons, this Court denies the plaintiff’s motion for certification of an interlocutory appeal and for a lifting of the stay on discovery.

Factual Background

On March 20, 1992, after numerous briefs and two oral hearings, this Court issued its order granting the defendant’s motion for a stay in this contract claim (CDA) matter.1 This order was issued even though a district court in California had earlier issued its order staying a related case involving allegations of false claims initiated by qui tam plaintiffs against Northrop Corporation, and later joined by the Government, in order to allow the CDA action in the Court of Federal Claims to proceed to completion.2 The district court had issued its stay under the legal assumption that the Court of Federal Claims had jurisdiction over all of the false claims assertions that were present in the district court action and could assume jurisdiction over all of the parties to that action, including the qui tam plaintiffs. After careful consideration, however, this Court came to the conclusion that, although this Court had concurrent jurisdiction in the CDA action over the false claims matters asserted in the district court between Northrop Corporation and the Government, it did not have jurisdiction over the qui tam plaintiffs, who were, of course, private third parties. Based then, on this Court’s conclusion that it did not have jurisdiction over the qui tam plaintiffs in the district court action, and on strong considerations of comity and judicial economy, this Court [797]*797granted the defendant’s motion to stay the CDA action in this Court to allow the parties to pursue reconsideration of the district court’s stay order or take other appropriate action.

The plaintiff herein responded to the Court’s March 20, 1992 order by filing a motion on March 30, 1992, requesting certification for interlocutory appeal of this Court’s stay order to resolve the legal impasse. At approximately the same time, the Government filed a motion in the district court action seeking reconsideration of the district court’s prior stay order, and the plaintiff filed its motion in district court seeking clarification of the district court’s stay order. Based primarily on the parties’ respective motions filed in the district court, this Court, on May 21, 1992, denied the plaintiff’s motion for certification without prejudice to renewal once action had been completed on the pending motions filed in the district court. On July 1, 1992, during a status conference, this Court again denied the plaintiff’s oral request for an interlocutory appeal without prejudice pending the district court’s decision on the parties’ respective motions. On September 16, 1992, the district court filed its memorandum opinion and order in which it granted the Government’s motion for reconsideration, vacated its earlier stay, and ordered the qui tam false claims action in the district court to proceed to completion. In its order, the district court stated:

Upon further consideration and reflection, the Court GRANTS the United States’ Motion for Reconsideration of this Court’s October 23, 1991 Order and lifts the stay on the proceedings before this Court. The Court imposed the stay in the belief that the Claims Court had jurisdiction over both the plaintiffs’ False Claims Act allegations against Northrop and Northrop’s Contract Disputes Act allegations against the government. Given that the Claims Court appeared to be the only forum capable of adjudicating all of these claims, the Court felt that the interests of both fairness and judicial economy would be most effectively promoted by allowing the Claims Court to hear this case. In the intervening months, however, the Claims Court has found that it lacks jurisdiction over the False Claims Act allegations and little if any progress has been made in either this case or the related case in the Claims Court.
Given the fact that this case was filed some five years ago and that so little progress has been made since last October, the Court now feels that the interests of justice would best be served by removing its stay and pressing on with the case in this Court. Even if the Claims Court granted Northrop certification to file an interlocutory appeal, it would probably take the federal circuit at least seven to eight months to render a decision. Given that time frame, the Court feels that the stay in this Court should be lifted.

United States ex rel., David Peterson and Jeff Kroll v. Northrop Corp., CV 87-03698 KN (GHKx), at 1-2 (C.D.Cal. Sept. 16, 1992).

The plaintiff thereafter, on October 16, 1992, filed afresh its present motion for certification of an interlocutory appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit of this Court’s stay order, and motion for the lifting of this Court’s stay order for the purpose of allowing discovery to proceed.

Discussion

A. Certification for Interlocutory Appeal

In the plaintiff’s motion, it has asserted that this Court should certify for interlocutory review this Court’s stay order of March 20, 1992, or at least that part of the order,3 that dealt with the question of whether or not this Court has jurisdiction over qui tam plaintiffs that have asserted False Claims Act allegations against a Government contractor. It argues that the matter involves a “fundamental conflict” in jurisdiction between the district courts and this Court that must be resolved and can [798]*798only be resolved by the Federal Circuit. Further, it alleges that the jurisdictional conflict has broad policy implications in the sense that it “strips the Court of its established jurisdiction over FCA counterclaims,” which is “fundamental to the scope of this Court’s future jurisdiction.” Finally, it believes that the CDA creates a “statutory primacy over FCA claims,” and consequently, that this Court’s stay reversed that primacy. Thus, it believes that the issue involves a “controlling question of law as to which there is a substantial ground for difference of opinion,” which should be reviewed by the Federal Circuit because it “would advance the ultimate termination of the litigation.”

The Government, for its part, vigorously opposes the plaintiff’s motion. It does so for several reasons. First, it does not believe that there is a “substantial ground” for a difference of opinion in that the district court, upon review of this Court’s stay order, reversed itself and ordered the case to go forward in that court. Second, it believes that the law, contained in 31 U.S.C.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Lambro v. United States
Federal Claims, 2026
NAVAJO NATION v. United States
Federal Claims, 2025
Doe No. 1 v. United States
Federal Claims, 2023
Reid v. United States
Federal Claims, 2020
Fisher v. United States
Federal Claims, 2020
Eby v. United States
133 Fed. Cl. 706 (Federal Claims, 2017)
Charles F. Day & Associates, LLC. v. United States
120 Fed. Cl. 767 (Federal Claims, 2015)
Petro-Hunt, L.L.C. v. United States
91 Fed. Cl. 447 (Federal Claims, 2010)
Abbey v. United States
89 Fed. Cl. 425 (Federal Claims, 2009)
Kislev Partners, L.P. v. United States
84 Fed. Cl. 378 (Federal Claims, 2008)
Nebraska Public Power District v. United States
74 Fed. Cl. 762 (Federal Claims, 2006)
Klamath Irrigation District v. United States
69 Fed. Cl. 160 (Federal Claims, 2005)
Scholl v. United States
68 Fed. Cl. 58 (Federal Claims, 2005)
Carole v. United States
56 Fed. Cl. 755 (Federal Claims, 2003)
American Management Systems, Inc. v. United States
57 Fed. Cl. 275 (Federal Claims, 2003)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
38 Cont. Cas. Fed. 76,491, 27 Fed. Cl. 795, 1993 U.S. Claims LEXIS 297, 1993 WL 75153, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/northrop-corp-v-united-states-uscfc-1993.