At a hearing held on May 7, 1999, based on all of the evidence received at trial, the court ruled that, as a matter of law, judgment should enter for the defendants on the equitable claims of the United States for unjust enrichment and recovery of payments made by mistake because the remedy would be inconsistent with the jury verdict for the defendants on the claim for breach of contract. The court also ruled that judgment should enter for defendants, as a matter of law, under Fed.R.Civ.P. 50(a) on the claim of the United States for damages for common law fraud, a claim that was not submitted to the jury because the government withdrew it. In the alternative, considering the oral motion to withdraw as a motion under Fed.R.Civ.P. 41(a)(2), the court orders that dismissal of the claim must be with prejudice.
[s]uch intervention does not.. confer subject matter jurisdiction over the relator's claims. Such a reading of the jurisdictional bar of 31 U.S.C. § 3730(e)(4) ignores the False Claims Act's goal of preventing parasitic suits based on information discovered by others. Indeed, under [plaintiff's] interpretation, the United States' intervention would cure the jurisdictional defects in all suits, even those brought by individuals who discovered the defendant's fraud by reading about it in the morning paper. The legislative history and policy behind the Act refute such a reading.
Solar evaporation ponds have, for some time, been used to treat ... hazardous wastes. Mr. Stone reviewed a design for the process and mechanical system intended to be used for removing sludge from these ponds. The system was proposed by a Mr. Leon Fong. Based on Mr. Stone's years of experience in the handling of sewage and sludge, he immediately recognized that the design could not work and would lead to serious problems. For example, the system was designed to remove sludge from the pond and mix that sludge with cement in order to create blocks of “pondcrete” for disposal use. Mr. Stone foresaw that the piping system would not properly remove the sludge and would lead to an inadequate mixture of sludge/waste and cement such that the “pondcrete” blocks would rapidly disintegrate thus creating additional contamination problems.
In about September 1981, three managers, William Nichol, Sam Cerise and Robert Jensen, met with Mr. Stone regarding the communication with DOE. In that meeting, Mr. Nichol expressly told Mr. Stone that he did not want any government agency learning anything about problems or conditions that Mr. Stone may become aware of in connection with his employment at Rocky Flats. Mr. Nichol ordered Mr. Stone, in particular, not to communicate with the DOE regarding such matters, or with any government agency at all. Further, Mr. Stone was told that if he violated this gag order, he would be fired. Mr. Stone's request that this order be put in writing was refused.
While the likelihood of a coincidence in numbers may be very small, the possibility of the special attractiveness of $3,911,637 as a consciously selected damage award appears to us to be a distinct possibility. The jury had before it exhibit 104, which displayed a variety of numbers, including the $3,911,637 figure. Exhibit 104 also contained a damage figure for some of the state law claims which, when added with other figures of damage the jury could award, would come close to the $3,911,637 figure. The second plausible explanation is that the jury was confused.... The first explanation would require that we uphold the award, the second that we reverse and remand for a new trial.... Given this choice between a possible proper determination of a figure and a possible instance of jury confusion, we cannot freely exercise our own judgment as to the most plausible.... It is well settled that a verdict will not be upset on the basis of speculation as to the manner in which the jurors arrived at it.
also ruled that judgment should enter for the defendants, as a matter of law, under Fed.R.Civ.P. 50(a) on the claim of the United States for damages for common law fraud, a claim that was not submitted to the jury because the Government withdrew it. In the alternative, considering the oral motion to withdraw as a motion under Fed.R.Civ.P. 41(a)(2), the court orders that dismissal of the claim must be with prejudice.
Under the terms of both the 1986 and 1989 DOE/Rockwell contracts, defendant was obliged only to use its best efforts to comply with its responsibilities under the contract. If the defendant used its best efforts to perform its contractual obligations, then defendant was entitled to receive or retain its costs for what it did in relation to the contract, and the government may not recover on its claim for breach of contract, despite the failure, if any, of defendant to meet the contractual requirements.
The Contractor shall, in accordance with the provisions of this contract, use its best efforts to manage, staff, maintain, and operate the Rocky Flats Plant within available funds so as to carry on in an efficient manner all necessary and related services and operations for the purpose of developing and producing (at *814 such rates, and in conformance with such specifications, as the Contracting Officer may direct in writing from time to time) weapons components, assemblies, and ancillary equipment and for performing related services and operations within the time scales requested by the Contracting Officer.
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