McGrath v. Microsemi Corp.

Issue: (1) Whether the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit erred in holding, in contrast with three other U.S. Courts of Appeals, that a scienter defense based upon a "good faith" interpretation of a statute may as a matter of law entitle a False Claims Act defendant to dismissal, even where the complaint alleges the government "warned away" defendants from their statutory interpretation; (2) whether, because a reasonable person would realize the materiality of a condition that secret military technology must remain secret from foreign enemies, the lower court erred in finding that the plaintiff could not prove scienter against a defendant who shared secret military technology on unprotected international computer servers, despite express promises by defendants to protect such data; and (3) whether the lower court erred in holding that materiality cannot be found in a False Claims Act case if the government continues to pay after learning of the allegations of fraud, even where the fraudulent certifications go to the "essence of the bargain."