United States Ex Rel. Thompson v. Honeywell International, Inc.

FILED
NOT FOR PUBLICATION
MAY 12 2016
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES ex rel. DANIEL No. 14-55879
THOMPSON,
D.C. No. 2:12-cv-02214-JAK-JCG
Plaintiff - Appellant,
v. MEMORANDUM*
HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL, INC.,
Defendant - Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Central District of California
John A. Kronstadt, District Judge, Presiding
Argued and Submitted May 3, 2016
Pasadena, California
Before: KOZINSKI, W. FLETCHER, and GOULD, Circuit Judges.
We affirm the district court’s dismissal with prejudice. “Under the False
Claim[s] Act’s scienter requirement, innocent mistakes, mere negligent
misrepresentations and differences in interpretations will not suffice to create
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by 9th Cir. R. 36-3.
liability. Instead, Relators must allege that [the defendant] knew that its statements
were false, or that it was deliberately indifferent to or acted with reckless disregard
of the truth of the statements.” United States ex rel. Lee v. Corinthian Colls., 655
F.3d 984, 996 (9th Cir. 2011) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted).
“Because they involve allegations of fraud, qui tam actions under the [False Claims
Act] must meet not only the requirements of Rule 8, but also the particularity
requirements of Rule 9.” Id. at 992. Assuming arguendo that Honeywell is not
permitted to charge the United States a license fee for the software at issue, the
operative complaint does not specifically allege facts leading to the plausible
inference that Honeywell knew that it was not entitled to charge the fee or that it
was deliberately indifferent to or acted with reckless disregard of the truth. The
complaint therefore does not state a claim under the False Claims Act. The district
court did not abuse its discretion in dismissing the case with prejudice because
Thompson failed to cure this pleading defect after the court gave him multiple
opportunities to do so.
AFFIRMED.