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On June 1, 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) issued its much-anticipated opinion in United States ex rel. Schutte v. SuperValu Inc. and United States ex rel. Proctor v. Safeway, Inc. (Schutte), holding that a defendant's subjective understanding of an ambiguous law, even if objectively reasonable, is relevant in proving scienter under the False Claims Act (FCA). The opinion, which was unanimous and authored by Justice Thomas, is not surprising given the questions and comments from the justices [...]

Writing for a unanimous Supreme Court of the United States, on June 1, 2023, Justice Clarence Thomas issued a decision clarifying the knowledge requirement for cases brought pursuant to the False Claims Act (FCA). In overturning the consolidated cases of United States ex rel. Schutte et al. v. SuperValu Inc., et al. and United States ex rel. Proctor v. Safeway, Inc., the Supreme Court rejected the Seventh Circuit's focus on the objectively reasonable interpretation of an ambiguous rule [...]

The U.S. Supreme Court clarified the standard for a defendant's state of mind in False Claims Act ("FCA") cases, holding that a defendant acts "knowingly"—which the FCA defines also to include deliberate ignorance and reckless disregard—if it actually knows its conduct is illegal, knows of a substantial risk of unlawfulness and avoids learning about the conduct's illegality, or ignores a substantial and unjustifiable risk of illegality. On June 1, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court addressed [...]