United States v. Govplace

930 F. Supp. 2d 123, 2013 WL 1092859, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 36576
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedMarch 18, 2013
DocketCivil No. 07-719 (RCL)
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 930 F. Supp. 2d 123 (United States v. Govplace) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Govplace, 930 F. Supp. 2d 123, 2013 WL 1092859, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 36576 (D.D.C. 2013).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

ROYCE C. LAMBERTH, Chief Judge.

This matter is before the Court on supplemental briefing relating to defendant Govplace’s motion for summary judgment. Govplace’s Supp. Mem. ISO its Mot. Summ. J. (“Govplace’s Supp. Mem.”), Sept. 25, 2012, ECF No. 168; Relator’s Supp. Mem. ISO its Opp’n to Def.’s Mot. Summ. J. (“Rel.’s Supp. Mem.”), Sept. 25, 2012, ECF No. 169. Upon consideration of the [125]*125parties’ supplemental briefs, the defendant’s prior motion for summary judgment, Def.’s Mot. Summ. J., Nov. 4, 2011, EOF No. 126, the opposition and rely thereto, and the record herein, the Court will grant Govplace summary judgment for the four product numbers in dispute. This resolves all remaining claims in this matter, and the Court will dismiss the case with prejudice.

I. BACKGROUND

Relator Brady Folliard initiated this qui tam suit pursuant to the False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. §§ 3729-3733 (“FCA”). Folliard’s complaint alleged that eight named defendants listed for sale and sold products under government contracts from non-designated countries, in violation of the Trade Agreements Act (“TAA”), 19 U.S.C. §§ 2501-2581. The TAA requires federal contractors to sell products made in designated countries — such as Japan or the United States — and generally prohibits federal contractors from selling goods made in non-designated countries, such as China. All eight defendants filed motions to dismiss, which the Court granted as to six of the defendants. See generally United States ex rel. Folliard v. Synnex Corp., 798 F.Supp.2d 66 (D.D.C.2011).

Two defendants remained: Government Acquisitions and Govplace. After two summary judgment opinions, the Court dismissed all claims against Government Acquisitions, and most claims against Govplace. See generally United States ex rel. Folliard v. Government Acquisitions, Inc. (“Gov’t Acq. I”), 858 F.Supp.2d 79 (D.D.C. 2012); United States ex rel. Folliard v. Government Acquisitions, Inc. (“Gov’t Acq. II”), 880 F.Supp.2d 36 (D.D.C.2012).

In his Second Amended Complaint, Folliard alleges that Govplace knowingly listed for sale 23 — and sold ten — products that originated in non-designated countries. Sec. Am. Compl. ¶¶ 117-18, Oct. 13, 2012, ECF No. 37. The Complaint listed four Counts. The Court dismissed Folliard’s claims — under Counts III and IV (Second Am. Compl. ¶¶ 138-51) — alleging a TAA violation based on the defendant’s listing of products for sale. The Court held that improper product listings unconnected with .a sale are not actionable. Gov’t Acq. I, 858 F.Supp.2d at 85. Folliard’s Counts I and II alleged that Gov-place violated the FCA by selling products from non-designated countries. Second Am. Compl. ¶¶ 134-41. Since Congress amended the FCA during the period covered by the Complaint, Folliard brought two separate counts — for sales occurring before the effective date of the FCA amendment, and another for those occurring thereafter. Id. Since none of the disputed claims against Govplace concerned sales occurring after the FCA’s amendment, the Court granted Govplace summary judgment on Count II-which covered sales made after the effective date of amendment. Gov’t Acq. II, 880 F.Supp.2d at 46.

The Court then granted in part Gov-place’s motion for summary judgment as to relator’s claims, under Count I, relating to several product numbers. Id. at 46-48. For four Hewlett-Packard (“HP”) product numbers, the Court considered whether to defer ruling pending additional discovery.

For the four product numbers in question, Govplace contended that it was entitled to judgment as a matter of law because its distributor, Ingram Micro, confirmed that the products were TAA-compliant. Govplace’s Mot. Summ. J. 21-22. Govplace argued that it justifiably relied on its distributor’s certification that the “Products offered by the manufacturer are compliant with the Trade Agreement Act.” Id. In response, the relator asked to Court to defer ruling on summary judgment under Federal [126]*126Rule of Civil Procedure 56(d), and requested additional discovery relating to: “(a) if [Govplace] actually relied upon Ingram Micro; (b) whether [Govplace] had information in its possession which indicated that the products sold to the Government were not TAA-compliant; and (c) whether its conduct was in reckless disregard of the truth.” Rel.’s Opp’n to Govplace’s Mot. Summ. J. 9, May 9, 2012, ECF No. 158.

The Court found “summary judgment to be premature regarding these [four]1 products until relator has [had] an adequate opportunity to conduct focused discovery on [Govplace’s] reliance on Ingram Micro.” Gov’t Acq. II, 880 F.Supp.2d at 47. The Court ordered the relator to “perform focused, targeted discovery for ... 45 days limited only to [Govplace]’s reliance on Ingram Micro’s Country of Origin representations for the sale of those products and whether the products sold were, as [Govplace] claims, from the United States and Japan.” Order 2, July 31, 2012, ECF No. 162. The Court ordered the parties to file, within 11 days after discovery concluded, “simultaneous supplemental memoranda addressing these questions only.” Id.

In its supplemental memorandum, Gov-place argues that it reasonably relied on representations made by its IT partner Ingram Micro that the products in question were made in TAA-compliant countries. For the relevant products, Govplace does not buy directly from HP; instead, it received products from Ingram Micro that Ingram Micro certified comply with federal contracting requirements. Thus, Folliard cannot prove Govplace “knowingly” presented false claims to the government.

According to Folliard, Govplace had a non-delegable obligation to verify that its products were produced in TAA-compliant countries, and that Govplace had information that undermined Ingram Micro’s TAA representations. Therefore, Govplace acted in reckless disregard of the truth by not verifying Ingram Micro’s representations against available HP information, and there is a disputed issue of fact regarding whether Govplace acted “knowingly.”

The Court agrees with Govplace. It will grant Govplace’s motion for summary judgment for Folliard’s claims pertaining to sales of product numbers Q5403A, 416577-B21, AG052A and Q5983A. By granting summary judgment on these product numbers, the Court resolves Folliard’s remaining claims and will dismiss the action with prejudice.

II. LEGAL STANDARD

A. Summary Judgment

“The court shall grant summary judgment if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a); see also Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). The mere existence of any factual dispute will not defeat summary judgment; “the requirement is that there be no genuine issue of material fact.” Anderson, 477 U.S. at 247-48, 106 S.Ct. 2505 (emphasis in original).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
930 F. Supp. 2d 123, 2013 WL 1092859, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 36576, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-govplace-dcd-2013.