Robinson Bradshaw Leads Verizon to Summary Judgment Win in False Claims Act Case

Robinson Bradshaw secured a victory in New York on behalf of its client, Verizon Communications, in a False Claims Act case that has been pending for more than a decade.

In 2014, a relator filed a qui tam lawsuit on behalf of New York governments against Verizon and more than a dozen other telecommunications companies, claiming that the defendants violated the New York False Claims Act by under-billing, under-collecting and under-remitting taxes related to 911 emergency management services in New York. After the New York attorney general declined to intervene in the lawsuit, the case was litigated for years, through fact and expert discovery. The relator sought billions of dollars in damages and penalties against the defendants.

The parties cross-moved for summary judgment, and the Robinson Bradshaw team led the summary judgment effort on behalf all defendants. On Jan. 21, the Court issued an order granting defendants’ motions for summary judgment, denying the relator’s motions for summary judgment, and dismissing the case in full. In doing so, the Court rejected the relator’s theory of liability and held that the relator had offered no evidence that any defendant knowingly submitted a false claim under the New York False Claims Act.

The Robinson Bradshaw team included Greg Skidmore, Fitz Barringer, Travis Hinman and Preetha Suresh Rini.