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Whistleblower Zoltan Barati has urged a Florida appeals court to rule that the state of Florida does not have the authority to dismiss a qui tam lawsuit Barati brought against Motorola Inc., after the state previously chose not to intervene in the litigation.
Barati brought the underlying False Claims Act lawsuit against Motorola in 2009, alleging that the company made misrepresentations in a $7.4 million contract for a new fingerprinting system for the state of Florida.
The Attorney General’s Office did not intervene in the case in 2010, so Barati continued to litigate the case independently. In May 2013, an order was entered to establish a jury trial.
Without seeking leave to intervene or giving notice to whistleblower Barati, the state filed a notice of voluntary dismissal in July of 2013.
Barati says that the First District Court of Appeals’ ruling could set a precedent for future False Claims Act qui tam lawsuits.
Allowing the state to have the authority to dismiss a whistleblower lawsuit without prior intervention might dissuade future whistleblowers from spending time and money on litigation, ultimately having a chilling effect on citizens’ willingness to protect the public interest through whistleblower lawsuits.
Rights of Parties in Florida Civil Actions
At issue in Barati’s case is Section 68.084(2)(a) of Florida Statutes, which deals with the rights of parties in civil actions. It appears the wording of Section 68.084 is not clear, as both parties have vastly different interpretations of the law.
Barati and his counsel feel that the law protects the relator by prohibiting the state from “limiting the rights of the person initiating the action.” Barati’s counsel explains, “Dismissal is the ultimate limitation of the rights of the person starting the case.”
The state referenced wording in the law saying that their party can voluntarily dismiss a False Claims Act case at any point in time “notwithstanding the objections of the person initiating the action.”
Barati’s counsel believes the voluntary dismissal only holds when the state has intervened in the case previously, and in this case the state did not take advantage of the opportunity to intervene.
The Motorola Whistleblower Lawsuit is Florida v. Barati et al., Case No. 1D15-0213, in the District Court of Appeal for the First District of Florida.
Whistleblower Lawsuit Information
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