John Mclain v. KBR, Incorporated

Filing

UNPUBLISHED PER CURIAM OPINION filed. Originating case number: 1:08-cv-00499-GBL-TCB. Copies to all parties and the district court/agency. [999639689]. [14-1816]

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UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 14-1816

JOHN MCLAIN, United States Of America, ex rel.,
Plaintiff – Appellant,
v.
KBR, INC.,
Defendant - Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of Virginia, at Alexandria. Gerald Bruce Lee, District
Judge. (1:08-cv-00499-GBL-TCB)

Submitted:

July 31, 2015

Decided:

August 13, 2015

Before WILKINSON and SHEDD, Circuit Judges, and DAVIS, Senior
Circuit Judge.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

Jonathan K. Tycko, TYCKO & ZAVAREEI LLP, Washington, D.C.; Harry
Litman,
LITMAN
LAW
FIRM,
Pittsburg,
Pennsylvania,
for
Appellants.
John P. Elwood, Craig D. Margolis, Tirzah S.
Lollar, Joshua S. Johnson, VINSON & ELKINS LLP, Washington,
D.C., for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

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PER CURIAM:
John McLain filed a complaint against KBR, Inc., pursuant
the

False

Claims

asserting

that

Act,

KBR

31

U.S.C.

submitted

§§

3728-33
claims

false

(2012)
for

(“FCA”),

payment

in

connection with electrical work it did in Iraq pursuant to a
government

contract.

The

district

court

dismissed

McLain’s

initial complaint, but allowed him to file an amended complaint.
The court then dismissed the amended complaint pursuant to Fed.
R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6).

For the reasons that follow, we affirm the

district court’s order.
We review de novo a district court’s dismissal under Fed.
R.

Civ.

P.

12(b)(6),

accepting

factual

allegations

in

the

complaint as true and drawing all reasonable inferences in favor
of

the

nonmoving

party.

Kensington

Volunteer

Fire

Montgomery Cty., 684 F.3d 462, 467 (4th Cir. 2012).
a

Rule

12(b)(6)

motion

to

dismiss,

a

complaint

Dep’t

v.

To survive

must

contain

sufficient “facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible
on its face.”
(2007).
or

Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570

The FCA prohibits any person from knowingly presenting

causing

to

be

presented

a

false

or

fraudulent

claim

for

payment, or knowingly making, using, or causing to be made or
used,

a

false

record

fraudulent claim.

or

statement

material

to

31 U.S.C. § 3729(a)(1)(A), (B).

a

false

or

“To prove a

false claim, a plaintiff must allege four elements: (1) a false
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statement or fraudulent course of conduct; (2) made with the
requisite scienter; (3) that is material; and (4) that results
in

a

claim

to

the

[g]overnment.”

United

States

v.

Triple

Canopy, 775 F.3d 628, 634 (4th Cir. 2015), pet. for cert. filed,
No. 14-1440 (June 8, 2015).
In addition, “claims under the FCA must also meet the more
stringent

particularity

Procedure 9(b).”

requirement

of

Federal

Rule

of

Civil

Id. at 634 (internal quotations omitted).

In

this context, “Rule 9(b) requires that an FCA plaintiff must, at
a minimum, describe the time, place, and contents of the false
representations, as well as the identity of the person making
the

misrepresentation

and

what

he

(internal quotation marks omitted).

obtained

thereby.”

Id.

We have thoroughly reviewed

the record and conclude that the district court did not err in
concluding that the amended complaint failed to plead fraud with
the

requisite

specificity.

district court’s order.

On

this

basis,

we

affirm

the

We dispense with oral argument because

the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the
materials before this court and argument would not aid in the
decisional process.
AFFIRMED

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