ACLJ Wins 9th Circuit Appeal in Massive Fraud Case Against Planned Parenthood Affiliates in Calif.

“This is a tremendous victory.” - Jay Sekulow, ACLJ Chief Counsel

WASHINGTON, July 2, 2010— Siding with the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has reinstated a multi-million dollar fraud case against Planned Parenthood affiliates in California. 

ACLJ attorneys are representing a former Planned Parenthood employee in Los Angeles, who is now a federal whistleblower.  The ACLJ was appealing an earlier decision by a federal district court in California that had dismissed the case.

"While this case is by no means over, winning this appeal means we can now get down to the heart of this case: the alleged fraud," said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel for the ACLJ.

The federal False Claims Act forbids government contractors from submitting "false or fraudulent" claims for payment.  It also authorizes private individuals to bring suit against the offenders to recover the fraudulently obtained funds.

The allegation in this case is that Planned Parenthood affiliates in California illegally marked up the supposed cost of various birth control drugs when seeking government reimbursement, resulting in tens of millions of dollars of overbilling-at taxpayer expense.  State audits in both California and Washington State have found Planned Parenthood affiliates guilty of overbilling.

When a former Planned Parenthood staffer sued, accusing California affiliates of fraudulently overbilling the state and federal governments, Planned Parenthood attorneys asked the federal district court to dismiss the case on technical jurisdictional grounds.

The federal district court accepted their arguments in part, and dismissed the case.  ACLJ attorneys then joined the case against Planned Parenthood to handle the appeal.

"The question on appeal was whether the former Planned Parenthood employee is a proper whistleblower under the False Claims Act," said Sekulow. "We contended that the answer is yes, and now a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit has unanimously agreed with us."

The ACLJ's opening brief had dissected and refuted the arguments of Planned Parenthood's attorneys point by point, explaining why the court of appeals should reverse the lower court's judgment and reinstate the lawsuit.  You can read the ACLJ opening brief here.

Led by Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow, the American Center for Law and Justice focuses on constitutional law and is based in Washington, D.C.  The ACLJ is online at www.aclj.org. 

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