United States, ex rel. Joshua Harman v. Trinity Industries, Inc., et al.

Whether continued payment by the Government is a factor that may be considered by the jury in an FCA claim, or whether it is a determinative factor that would cause the claim to be immaterial as a matter of law.

Whether the “Government” for the purpose of analyzing a payment decision under Escobar ’s materiality standard is the state or federal government, when the false statement is made to the state, the state is the decision maker and makes the actual payment, but both federal and state funds are used for payment.

Whether the materiality standard laid out in Universal Health Servs., Inc. v. United States (“Escobar ”)1 for implied certification cases also applies to express certification cases, despite the fact that, by their very nature, mandatory express certifications of compliance are material to a purchase decision. 1 136 S.Ct. 1989, 2003-04, 195 L.Ed.2d 348 (2016).