What Civil Rights Administrators Need to Know Right Now About the False Claims Act Risk

July 24, 2025 | 12:00pm-1:15pm ET | Members-only

Your college has a strong commitment to DEI work, but you’re concerned about the Trump Administration’s Executive Order banning DEI. You’re not sure how seriously to take it, or what the early court rulings against the order mean. You’re unclear on whether it intersects with Title VI and how, but you’re seeing campus after campus being dinged by the federal government for failing to address Antisemitism. Your campus is making slow progress on adjusting programs based on the best information you can cobble together, when all of a sudden, you get slammed with a lawsuit for non-compliance. You thought the Trump Administration’s threat to withhold federal funding was scary, but now this lawsuit under something called the False Claims Act is seeking 3x your federal funding in damages. Worse, you learn that a professor at your college filed the suit, and is now claiming whistleblower status. Your attorneys have informed you that the Trump Administration has now intervened in the suit. What a mess. Could this have been avoided?

Attend our upcoming webinar to head off this potential risk exposure for your college or school.

The FCA is a federal law that penalizes those who knowingly defraud the federal government. The law is most commonly talked about in relation to federal contractors, but it has been used to achieve significant settlements and judgments against for-profit colleges. The basic idea is that if your college accepts federal funds and agrees to comply with various federal laws, but then does not comply with those laws, your college has defrauded the federal government, and it is entitled to recover the funding it provided to your college, plus significant damages.

The FCA allows the federal government to sue, but the FCA also permits and incentivizes private individuals to sue and file actions on behalf of the federal government. Individuals who successfully alert the government to a legitimate issue under the FCA or are successful in a lawsuit on behalf of the government under the FCA may receive reasonable attorney fees and up to 30% of the recovered damages which could be up to three times the amount of the implicated federal dollars.

So, what happens when your own employees and students are incentivized to snitch on your DEI efforts, Title IX non-compliance, Title VI non-compliance, etc.? The Trump Administration has become frustrated with the wait-and-see response from colleges, and has now opened an entire division within the Department of Justice (DOJ) tasked with seeking and filing viable FCA complaints against schools and colleges.

Given the lack of clarity in the Trump Administration’s DEI Executive Orders, we all could face exposure. Join us for the important webinar to learn about the FCA, the risks of FCA liability, and how to ward off DOJ litigation for non-compliance.

Topics covered in this webinar include:

• The basics of FCA liability
• The risk exposures of the FCA’s treble damages provision and how seriously we should take this Trump Administration threat
• How have colleges been subject to the FCA so far, and what might this look like going forward?
• What is a qui tam whistleblower, and who can be one?
• What should you be asking your attorneys about the FCA?
• What firms can help protect you from an FCA suit if it comes to litigation?
• What can TNG and ATIXA do to help you reduce your risk of exposure to FCA claims and liability?
• We’ll answer your questions and provide you tools to help you move forward

This is an exclusive, Members-only community event. Not a member? Join today!