United States Tenth Circuit

In an action under the False Claims Act (FCA) alleging that defendants, past and present high-ranking administrators of New Mexico State University (NMSU), falsely certified that NMSU was a "minority institution" eligible for Department of Defense set-aside contract grants, summary judgment for defendants is affirmed where: 1) the circuit court does not address whether qualified immunity is a viable defense in an FCA action; and 2) relators failed to introduce sufficient evidence for a jury to find that any defendant knowingly misrepresented NMSU's eligibility as a minority institution.

Appellate Information

• Decided 11/28/2008
• Published 12/01/2008

Judges

• HOLMES, Circuit Judge., Before TACHA, TYMKOVICH, and HOLMES, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Tenth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Michael S. Raab, Appellate Staff, Civil Division, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington D.C. (Peter D. Keisler, Assistant Attorney General, and David C. Iglesias, United States Attorney, with him on the brief), for the United States of America as amicus curiae.


• For Appellees:
  
• Duff Westbrook of Sanders & Westbrook, P.C., Albuquerque, NM (Maureen A. Sanders, Sanders & Westbrook, P.C., and Joleen K. Youngers, Almanzar & Youngers, P.A., Las Cruces, NM, with him on the briefs), for Plaintiffs-Appellants/Cross-Appellees., Kenneth L. Harrigan, Modrall, Sperling Roehl Harris & Sisk, P.A., Albuquerque, NM (Stephen S. Hamilton and Andrew S. Montgomery, Montgomery & Andrews, P.A., Santa Fe, NM;  Alex C. Walker, Modrall, Sperling Roehl Harris & Sisk, P.A.;   with him on the briefs), for Defendants-Appellees/Cross-Appellants.