United States ex rel. Kraxberger v. Kansas City Power & Light Co., No. 13-2759 (8th Cir. 2014)
Annotate this CasePlaintiff filed a qui tam suit under the False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. 3729-3733, alleging that KCP&L fraudulently induced the GSA to install an all-electric heating-and-cooling system at the Richard Bolling Federal Building. The court concluded that the district court did not grossly abuse its discretion or make pretrial proceedings fundamentally unfair to relator. On the merits, the court concluded that the district court properly dismissed the building life cycle cost analysis and false-rate claims as publicly disclosed, and correctly granted summary judgment on the gratuities claim. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court.
Court Description: Civil Case - False Claims Act. Relator claimed Kansas City Power and Light Company fraudulently induced GSA to install an all-electric heating-and-cooling system in a federal building, specifically that KDP&L used false projections in costs analysis, fraudulently promised the all-electric rate, and falsely filed certification stating that no gratuities were given. The district court's dismissal of the cost analysis and false rate claims as publicly disclosed by the FOIA request and PSC hearing testimony is affirmed; the information was publically available and relator was not the original source. The relator's reliance on federal acquisition regulations was misplaced and the district court did not err in granting summary judgment on the gratuities claim. The district court did not err or abuse its discretion in denying relator's claims of procedural errors.
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