By: Derek Hawkins//December 2, 2015//
7th Circuit Court of Appeals
Case No.: 14-1780
Case Name: LuAnn Ziebell v. The Fox Valley Workforce Development Board Inc.
Officials: ROVNER and SYKES, Circuit Judges, and ANDREA R. WOOD, District Judge.
Pertinent Practice Areas: Qui Tam – Retaliatory Termination
Appellant fails to show she is the original source of information to meet public disclosure exception , fails to provide evidence of retaliation.
“Ziebell’s claim rests on the Board’s improper practice of provided services directly through Workforce Economics. That’s precisely what DWD found in its audit, so her qui tam claim is plainly “based on” the DWD’s public disclosure of this information. Ziebell doesn’t argue otherwise. Instead, she tries to bring herself within the original-source exception. “The original-source exception requires relators to establish that they have (1) ‘direct’ knowledge of fraudulent activity; (2) ‘independent’ knowledge of fraudulent activity; and (3) voluntarily provided their information to the government before filing a qui tam action.” Id. at 917 (quoting 31 U.S.C. § 3730(e)(4)(B)). Ziebell hasn’t come close to satisfying these requirements. Although it may be reasonable to infer that she had direct knowledge of the Board’s relationship with Workforce Economics as a general matter, she hasn’t shown that she had direct and independent knowledge—apart from the DWD audit report—that this relationship created a problem of regulatory compliance. More to the point, she hasn’t shown that she had direct and independent knowledge of any fraudulent-claims activity by the Board. Finally, it’s clear that Ziebell did not voluntarily provide any information about her allegations to the federal government before filing suit. Indeed, she admitted in her deposition that it was the DWD report that “started some of the ball rolling” regarding the regulatory dilemma created by the use of an in-house service provider and that she talked to “no one” in the federal government about this until after she filed suit. Ziebell’s qui tam claim clearly falls within the public-disclosure bar and must be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.”
Qui Tam Claim Dismissed
Affirmed in all other respects