U.S. Justice Department Sues Oracle in Case Claiming Overcharges

Whistleblower: any employee who takes it upon themselves to report, to authorities, instances of their company’s unlawful behavior. Examples of this behavior may include corporate fraud, misstatements in financial documents, noncompliance with payroll regulations, or discovery of health and safety violations in the workplace.

Powerful Silicon Valley software giant Oracle is being sued by the U.S. Government for alleged overcharging. The U.S. Department of justice lawsuit, filed July 29, 2010, alleges that Oracle “misrepresented its sales practices in several ways, forcing the government – and by extension taxpayers – to overpay” according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The case is U.S. v. Oracle Corp., 1:07-cv-00529, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia.

Whistleblower in Action

Paul Frascella, a former senior director of contract services at Oracle brought the original lawsuit against Oracle in 2007. The False Claims Act lets private citizens sue on behalf of the government and share in any recovery. According to Frascella “Oracle overcharged the government by tens of millions of dollars.”

Department of Justice Claims

21 Agencies: Defense , State, and Treasury Departments were amongst 21 agencies that made purchases of Oracle software
Multiple Award Scheduled Packs: GSA negotiated these packs which according to the complaint should “allow government agencies to order products on GSA schedules without going through elaborate procurement programs.”
Discounts: the Multiple Award Scheduled Packs were supposed to provide the government agencies with discounts equal to or greater than the discounts afforded Oracle’s most coveted customers.
Contract Value: according to a Justice Department statement “the contract was worth hundreds of millions of dollars, while the complaint stated that Oracle reported $1.08 billion in sales of software licenses and maintenance under the contract.”

Courage and Determination

It takes resolve, courage, and fortitude to report these kinds of actions against an employer. The possibility exists for employer retaliation for “blowing the whistle”. At Gwilliam, Ivary, Chiosso, Cavalli & Brewer we fully understand the plight of a whistleblower. Our attorneys have successfully represented them against large well funded employers with winning results.

How We Will Represent You: The Team Concept

A team is assigned to your case. We support you with one of the firm’s partners (someone with anywhere from 25 to 40 years of trial experience), an associate attorney, a paralegal and a secretary. We have found that this approach enables us to devote the essential time and painstaking attention to case preparation and research. Our approach also ensures that someone who is familiar with your case will almost always be available to respond to your needs and answer your questions throughout the process.