No. 19-225

United States, ex rel. Stephanie Strubbe, et al. v. Crawford County Memorial Hospital, et al.

Lower Court: Eighth Circuit
Docketed: 2019-08-20
Status: Denied
Type: Paid
Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2)
Tags: billing civil-procedure false-claims-act medicare medicare-billing motion-to-dismiss pleading protected-activity qui-tam whistleblower
Key Terms:
Environmental SocialSecurity Securities Immigration
Latest Conference: 2019-11-22 (distributed 2 times)
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Must these employees, Relators in a suit brought under the False Claims Act, have seen and therefore pled the exact content of billings sent to Medicare contents which were kept secret by management in order to be able to survive a motion to dismiss made under Fed. R. Civ. P. 9(b)

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

QUESTIONS PRESENTED 1. Paramedics and EMTs at a county hospital were ordered by management to perform unnecessary services and then enter incorrect time into the hospital billing software, which they were told was for "billing and cost reporting" purposes. Must these employees, Relators in a suit brought under the False Claims Act, have seen and therefore pled the exact content of billings sent to Medicare contents which were kept secret by management in order to be able to survive a motion to dismiss made under Fed. R. Civ. P. 9(b) 2. When three hospital employees became concerned about billing and_ financial irregularities at the hospital, they undertook their own investigation about those irregularities. The employees also complained internally about the facts that ultimately led to their lawsuit brought under the False Claims Act. Do the actions of employees related to their investigation and internal complaints constitute protected activity under the Act, or must employees specifically threaten a False Claims Act lawsuit in order to be protected?

Docket Entries

2019-11-25
Petition DENIED.
2019-11-06
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 11/22/2019.
2019-11-04
Reply of petitioners United States of America, ex rel. Stephanie Strubbe, et al. filed. (Distributed)
2019-10-23
Brief of respondent Crawford County Memorial Hospital and Bill Bruce in opposition filed.
2019-09-23
Response Requested. (Due October 23, 2019)
2019-09-11
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/1/2019.
2019-09-06
Waiver of right of respondents Crawford County Memorial Hospital and Bill Bruce to respond filed.
2019-06-17
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due September 19, 2019)

Attorneys

Crawford County Memorial Hospital and Bill Bruce
Alex P. HontosDorsey & Whitney LLP, Respondent
Alex P. HontosDorsey & Whitney LLP, Respondent
United States of America, ex rel. Stephanie Strubbe, et al.
Angela L. CampbellDickey, Campbell & Sahag Law Firm, PLC, Petitioner
Angela L. CampbellDickey, Campbell & Sahag Law Firm, PLC, Petitioner