Kreipke v. Wayne State Univ.

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Plaintiff filed a qui tam action under the False Claims Act (FCA), 31 U.S.C. 3729 et seq., and for defamation under Michigan law, alleging that WSU engaged in a fraudulent scheme to inflate the amount of funding that it received from the federal government for research grants and that he was fired in retaliation for complaining about the scheme to university officials and refusing to participate in it. The court concluded that the district court correctly held that WSU is an arm of the State of Michigan and therefore not a “person” subject to liability under the FCA; the district court was correct in dismissing plaintiff’s defamation claim as barred by the Eleventh Amendment; plaintiff failed to plead his conspiracy and “Reverse False Claim Act” claims with particularity under Fed. R. Civ. P. 9(b); plaintiff's argument that his retaliation claim under the FCA should not have been dismissed because, while WSU may not be a “person” under the FCA, WSU is an “employer” under the FCA that may still be sued for retaliation, is forfeited; and the district court properly denied plaintiff’s request to amend the complaint as futile. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment. View "Kreipke v. Wayne State Univ." on Justia Law