Berkowitz v. Automation Aids, Inc.

Berkowitz's company, Complete Packaging, holds a General Service Administration (GSA) multiple award schedule contract, under which it sells office supplies to government agencies. The defendants hold competing GSA schedule contract. Vendors with GSA schedule contracts must comply with the Trade Agreements Act (TAA), 19 U.S.C. 501, which requires that a vendor only offer and sell U.S.-made or other designated country end products to governmental agencies. Federal Acquisition Regulations identify the designated countries and require that a vendor’s GSA agreement contain a “Trade Agreements Certificate,” certifying that each end product is compliant and listing the other products that are not. Vendors with GSA schedule contracts upload their price lists to the GSA Advantage online portal, GSA’s shopping system. Berkowitz claims that other vendors offered and sold products from non-designated countries, such as China or Thailand, although they filed Trade Agreements Certificate and that any invoices they submitted to the government for TAA noncompliant products constitute material false statements under the False Claims Act (FCA), 31 U.S.C. 3730. The Seventh Circuit affirmed the dismissal of his FCA suit. Berkowitz cannot allege that the defendants made any express misrepresentations; his claims are premised on an implied false certification theory and do not allege specific facts demonstrating what occurred at the individualized transactional level. That defendants may have sold non-compliant products in violation of the TAA does not equate to making a knowingly false statement in order to receive money from the government. View "Berkowitz v. Automation Aids, Inc." on Justia Law