Silver Golub & Teitell represented the relator in a federal False Claims Act (“FCA”) action against United Technologies Corporation which alleged, inter alia, that UTC had prematurely billed the government for work not yet performed on a helicopter contract and had inflated material inventories used as a basis for progress bills on its fixed-price contracts. The relator Douglas Keeth also alleged that UTC officials attempted to suppress disclosure of the improper Sikorsky practices after the company discovered and investigated the practices while participating in the Defense Department’s voluntary disclosure program.
The qui tam litigation resulted in a $150 million settlement which at the time was the largest ever recovery for an action brought under the FCA. The whistleblower client receiving a relator’s share of $22.5 million which was then also the largest such FCA award ever given to a relator.
The case was United States ex rel. Keeth v. United Technologies Corporation, No. H-89-323 (1994) brought in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut before Hon. Alan H. Nevas.
