Cochise Consultancy, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Hunt

This case asked which False Claims Act time limit applies when a private whistleblower sues and the United States does not join the case. The Court said the whistleblower may use the law's 3-year knowledge-based deadline, but the whistleblower is not the federal official whose knowledge starts that clock.

The Court decided the case on May 13, 2019, after hearing argument on March 19, 2019, but vote and opinion-lineup details are not available in the provided record.

The decision can give whistleblowers more time to file some fraud suits, even when the government stays out. That matters for contractors, health care companies, and others accused of sending false bills to the government.

The Supreme Court has finished this case. The practical next step is for lower courts to apply this timing rule in False Claims Act suits where the government does not intervene.

The case asked whether a private whistleblower could use the False Claims Act's 3-year knowledge-based deadline when the government declined to join. It also asked whether the whistleblower counted as the federal official whose knowledge starts that period.

It can keep some fraud claims alive longer, giving whistleblowers more time to sue. Businesses accused of false billing may face cases that would otherwise seem too old.

The Supreme Court's work on this docket is over. Lower courts must now use this rule when deciding timing disputes in similar False Claims Act cases.