Legal Ruling: In a case alleging that shipper DHL charged the Government for jet fuel surcharges on ground deliveries, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals held that the relator’s failure to comply with a 180-day notice rule for administrative actions before the Surface Transportation Board (STB) did not bar a shipping-rate challenge before a federal court when brought pursuant to the False Claims Act. The district court had concluded that it did and dismissed the action. Without deciding how the 180-day rule applies to other kinds of suits brought in court, the Second Circuit vacated on the ground that the 180-day rule cannot apply to a qui tam action under the FCA.
This False Claims Act lawsuit is captioned United States v. DHL Express (USA), Inc., 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 2164 (2d Cir. N.Y. Feb. 5, 2014).
