United States ex rel. Onnen v. Sioux Falls Indep. Sch. Dist., No. 11-3848 (8th Cir. 2012)
Annotate this CaseSoutheast Technical Institute (STI) in South Dakota is a public post-secondary technical school funded by the State through Sioux Falls School District No. 49-5 and governed by the Sioux Falls School Board. STI terminated Registrar Matt Onnen for awarding degrees to students who had not earned them, not awarding degrees when students had earned them, and failing to verify students for graduation. Meanwhile, Onnen filed a qui tam complaint against the school district, its superintendent, and the school board members, alleging that Defendants violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by knowingly submitting false or fraudulent claims to the federal government for student grants and guaranteed loans. Onnen did not sue STI or any STI employee. The district court granted summary judgment for Defendants. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed, holding the district court did not err in concluding Onnen's affidavit was insufficient to prove that any defendant committed a knowing violation of the FCA. Therefore, summary judgment was appropriate.
Court Description: Civil Cases - False Claims Act. Grant of summary judgment without consideration of subsequently scheduled expert depositions is affirmed, as Onnen failed to take any action in the district court to defer its ruling until the depositions were filed. Claim that district court refused to rule of immunity claim is frivolous. As presented by the government's amicus argument, the district court's alternate ruling that FCA actions based on Title IV of the Higher Education Act are precluded is rejected. The district court did not abuse its discretion in denying attorneys fees.
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