ZARETSKY v. JOHNSON CONTROLS
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today released an opinion in ZARETSKY v. JOHNSON CONTROLS, No. 04-55536, an appeal in a civil action brought by the United States. The panel consisted of William C. Canby, Jr., John T. Noonan, and Marsha S. Berzon, Circuit Judges.
BERZON, Circuit Judge: This case requires us to interpret, once again, the statutory provisions relating to the “public disclosure” bar and the “original source” exception to that bar in the Federal False Claims Act (FCA), 31 U.S.C. §§ 3729-3733, and the California False Claims Act (CFCA), CAL. GOV’T CODE §§ 1265012656. We hold that the federal and state statutes do not require that an individual report relevant information to the government prior to the “public disclosure” at issue to qualify as an “original source.” I. Johnson Controls, Inc. (Johnson Controls, or the Company) manufactures control systems that monitor and coordinate the air environment in large buildings and building complexes. The Company sells its control systems both directly to endusers and through a network of independent distributors called “Authorized Building Controls Specialists” (ABCSs). Yardley-Zaretsky, Inc. and the George Yardley Co. (collectively, the Yardley Companies) operate as an ABCS. According to Roman Zaretsky, President of Yardley-Zaretsky, Inc., Johnson Controls threatened the Yardley Companies with termination if they bid against Johnson Controls itself on certain government jobs, including jobs at the Long Beach Veterans Administration Hospital and the University of California, Riverside. . . .