A
nurse brought an action against a medical center for terminating her in violation
of the anti-retaliation provision of the False Claims Act. The medical center
sought to dismiss the suit for failure to state a claim for which relief could
be granted. The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
held that three criteria must be satisfied to establish a retaliation claim.
First, the nurse's actions must be protected by the statute. Second, the medical
center must have known that the nurse was engaged in protected conduct. Third,
the motivation behind the medical center's termination of the nurse at least
in part was to stop her protected conduct. The nurse was able to demonstrate
that her investigation into nurse staffing levels was related to the medical
center's non-compliance with regulations. Since the medical center had accepted
Medicaid/Medicare funding, evidence of such non-compliance would constitute
fraud. The nurse was able to demonstrate that the medical center was aware of
her investigation and that she had alerted the government of alleged fraudulent
activity. However, she could not demonstrate that she had provided the medical
center with sufficient legal notice that she was investigating fraud and, thus,
could not use the retaliation claim afforded her by the False Claims Act.