In a False Claims Act (FCA) case with implications for the use of business and work visas, the US District Court for the District of New Jersey refused on Tuesday to reconsider or allow an immediate appeal of its prior ruling that the knowingly improper use of less expensive visas when more expensive visas are appropriate may give rise to FCA liability.
The case, Jean-Claude Franchitti v. Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation et al., involves allegations that foreign employees of Cognizant, a technology services provider, traveled to the United States on B-1 and L-1 visas when the work they were performing required the company to obtain more expensive H-1B visas. The plaintiff, a former assistant vice president for Cognizant, claims the company perpetrated this alleged fraud by submitting visa petitions with false invitation letters attesting to the managerial responsibilities or special skills required for L-1 visa holders and used employees with L-1 visas or B-1 visas, which are for short-term business trips, to perform work that should legally have been performed by H-1B visa holders. The plaintiff argues this amounts to a reverse false claim, which is codified in 31 USC ' 3729(a)(1)(G) and occurs when a defendant knowingly makes a false statement to avoid paying an obligation to the government (e.g., misstatements...
