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The False Claims Act required dismissal of a qui tam relator's  claims because he was convicted of the conduct giving rise to the fraud, even if he or she only played a minor role.  Schroeder v. CH2M Hill, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 12287 (9th Cir. July 16, 2015). A district court properly dismissed a former...

There are only two requirements in order for a whistleblower to be an "original source" who may recover relief under the False Claims Act: (1) before filing the action, the whistleblower must voluntarily inform the government of the facts which underlie the allegations of the complaint; and (2) the whistleblower must have direct and independent...

A district court properly granted summary judgment against a former employee's claim that the employer violated Section 510 of ERISA by discharging her for the purpose of interfering with her benefits under a plan, because even though she established a prima facie case by showing her discharge occurred 18 months before she would have been...

A union breached its duty of fair representation by favoring one group of pilots who wished to merge seniority lists for pilots of two merging airlines by using their length of service rather than the strength of their respective airlines, after taking the place of prior pilots' union that had obtained an arbitration award blending...

A district court erroneously granted summary judgment against an employee's federal claim that a supervisor sexually harassed her under the Faragher/Ellerth affirmative defense, because a reasonable jury could find that the employer did not exercise reasonable care to prevent and correct any sexually harassing behavior (including questions whether the employer properly addressed the supervisor's harassment...

A district court properly granted summary judgment against a postdoctoral fellow's discrimination claim, because the fellow did not provide sufficient evidence showing that the reasons for not considering her for a full time position (lack of compliance with safety guidelines and dissatisfaction with her ability to publicly present her work) were pretextual. The district court...

An employer violated Title VII, because it refused to hire an applicant at least partly because she was wearing a headscarf for what it suspected were religious reasons. EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc., 135 S. Ct. 2028 (June 1, 2015). A pension based on a service related disability is taxable to the extent...

Because last day of plan's 180 day appeal period ran on a Sunday, a claimant had until the following day to file his appeal. Legras v. Aetna Life Ins. Co., 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 8824 (9th Cir. May 28, 2015). ERISA plans may require employees to execute releases of claims to qualify for and ultimately...

A fiduciary has a continuing duty of prudence to monitor and remove imprudent investments from the plan, not only the duty to select them prudently from the outset. Tibble v. Edison Int'l, 135 S. Ct. 1823 (May 18, 2015). A bankruptcy debtor who converts from Chapter 13 bankruptcy to Chapter 7 is entitled to return...