Harasek v. Nat'l R.R. Passenger Corp.
Harasek v. Nat'l R.R. Passenger Corp.
Opinion of the Court
This case presents a single issue: Whether Defendant National Railroad Passenger Corporation ("Amtrak") is subject to the False Claims Act ("FCA"),
I. BACKGROUND
For purposes of the pending motion, the Court accepts as true the facts alleged in the complaint, Dkt. 1. See Wood v. Moss ,
Plaintiff Kathleen Harasek worked as an Inspector for the Amtrak Police Department ("APD") from July 2013 to July 2016. Dkt. 1 at 3, 15 (Compl. ¶¶ 15, 66). In September 2015, Plaintiff was selected by Amtrak's Chief of Police, Polly Hanson ("Chief Hanson"), to spearhead efforts to plan Pope Francis's visit to the United States. Id. at 4 (Compl. ¶ 19). This assignment was "a massive undertaking" involving coordination between multiple security and law enforcement agencies. Id. Plaintiff avers that due to her work on the Papal visit, her "administrative and operational responsibilities" were reassigned to another officer at the "direction of Chief Hanson and APD leadership." Id. at 4-5 (Compl. ¶ 21).
Plaintiff's role as an Inspector also entailed leading instructional programs for "external law enforcement partners." Id. at 5 (Compl. ¶ 27). This included RailSafe, a two-day outreach program about "the capabilities of the APD" and how external law enforcement could "assist with responding to incidents within [the] APD's jurisdiction." Id. at 6 (Compl. ¶ 28). From 2014 onward, the RailSafe program was funded by grant money from the United States Security and Transportation Authority. Id. (Compl. ¶ 30). Amtrak solicited bids from third-party vendors to implement the program, and ultimately awarded the contract-valued at over $1,000,000-to *311a security consulting firm, ABS Consulting ("ABS"). Id. (Compl. ¶¶ 31-32).
During the summer of 2015, Plaintiff "became aware that ABS was involved in fraudulent, or potentially fraudulent activity[,] arising from its work associated with the RailSafe Program." Id. at 6 (Compl. ¶ 33). Specifically, Plaintiff alleges that "ABS was fraudulently submitting claims ... for the work that was actually performed by Amtrak personnel, all under the direction and supervision of Chief Hanson." Id. at 8 (Compl. ¶ 38). ABS allegedly used "handouts and materials" prepared by Amtrak staff "without permission or consent," id. at 7 (Compl. ¶ 35), and took credit for presentations and logistical services that "were led and conducted by Amtrak personnel, not ABS," id. (Compl. ¶ 36). Plaintiff further suspected that "Chief Hanson was directly or indirectly involved, and/or economically benefitting from" ABS's activity because of her "close personal relationship" with Kerry Thomas, the RailSafe project manager at ABS. Id. at 6-7 (Compl. ¶ 33). In mid-October 2015, Plaintiff reported these concerns to Amtrak's Office of the Inspector General ("OIG") and "request[ed] that the OIG investigate ... Chief Hanson's potential involvement." Id. at 8 (Compl. ¶ 39).
Plaintiff alleges that, shortly thereafter, Chief Hanson subjected her to a series of adverse employment actions in retaliation for her report. See id. at 8-15 (Compl. ¶¶ 41-67).
First , Plaintiff alleges that on or about October 21, 2015, Chief Hanson transferred her to an "undesirable position of lesser status"-"Inspector/Inspection and Audits." Id. at 8-10 (Compl. ¶¶ 41, 45). She further alleges that due to the transfer, she was "stripped of supervisory duties and administrative staff," "assigned to menial tasks," and "limited" in her "exposure to other ranking APD personnel." Id. 9-10 (Compl. (¶ 45)
Second, Plaintiff claims that on November 17, 2015, Chief Hanson assigned her "holiday travel duty" over Thanksgiving even though "the typical protocol was to assign a Sergeant or Captain" for the job. Id. at 10 (Compl. ¶¶ 48-49). In that same conversation, Chief Hanson allegedly "accused [Plaintiff] of causing problems within Amtrak, and further threatened that [Plaintiff] should resign from the APD or there would be negative consequences." Id.
Third , Plaintiff avers that on or before December 4, 2015, Chief Hanson gave her a negative performance review, stating that Plaintiff "[d]id [n]ot [m]eet [c]ommitments" for "4 of the 9 Smart Goals set forth on [her] Performance Evaluation." Id. at 11 (Compl. ¶ 53). The review, however, did not account for Plaintiff's special assignment to the Papal visit or the reassignment of her operational duties during that time. Id. at 12 (Compl. ¶ 57). Plaintiff alleges that "Chief Hanson's negative ratings ... precluded [her] from receiving any promotion, salary increase[,] or monetary award at the end of the fiscal year," and "derailed" her career advancement at Amtrak. Id. at 11-12 (Compl. ¶ 54).
Finally , Plaintiff alleges that on or about March 9, 2016, she was informed that Chief Hanson had filed an "Internal Affairs Complaint" against her, accusing her of making false statements "in the self-evaluation section of her 2015 Performance Review." Id. at 13 (Compl. ¶¶ 61-62). This complaint was later dismissed. Id. at 15 (Compl. ¶ 68). Plaintiff nevertheless asserts that "the mere filing of [the complaint] [had] negative consequences" and "impede[d] her future employment opportunities and advancement at Amtrak." Id. at 14 (Compl. ¶ 63).
As a result of these "harassing, retaliatory, and deliberate actions," Plaintiff alleges *312that she "was constructively discharged by Amtrak on July 1, 2016." Id. at 15 (Compl. ¶ 66). She subsequently filed this suit, alleging a claim for retaliation in violation of the FCA,
II. LEGAL STANDARD
A motion to dismiss brought under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) is designed to "test[ ] the legal sufficiency of a complaint." Browning v. Clinton ,
III. ANALYSIS
For the reasons set forth below, the Court concludes that Plaintiff cannot state a claim for relief under the FCA against Amtrak.
A. Text
The parties agree that the plain language of the Reform Act expressly provides that Amtrak "shall not be subject to title 31."
First, and foremost, Plaintiff's attempt to read ambiguity into § 24301(a)(3) is foreclosed by D.C. Circuit precedent. As Amtrak correctly points out, in U.S. ex rel. Totten v. Bombardier Corp.
Plaintiff's "statutory conflict" and "odd result" arguments are also unpersuasive. With respect to the first, the Court agrees with Amtrak that the Reform Act and the FCA "can easily be read together with no conflict." Dkt. 11 at 3. While the FCA generally imposes "[l]iability for certain acts" committed by "any person" defrauding the federal government,
Nor does reading the Reform Act to exempt Amtrak from FCA compliance produce the "odd result" of leaving the federal government with "no recourse" against the fraud allegedly perpetrated here. There are multiple safeguards. To begin, as Amtrak acknowledges, it is subject to the Inspector General Act of 1978. Dkt. 11 at 8 (citing 5 U.S.C. App. § 8G(a)(2) ); see also Dep't of Transp. v. Ass'n of Am. R.R. , --- U.S. ----,
A railroad carrier ... may not discharge, demote, suspend, reprimand, or in any other way discriminate against an employee if such discrimination is due, in whole or in part, to the employee's lawful, good faith act done ... to provide information ... [to] a Federal, State, or local regulatory or law enforcement agency (including an office of the Inspector General under the Inspector General Act of 1978 ....)
An employee who alleges discharge, discipline, or other discrimination in violation of subsection (a), (b), or (c) of this section [delineating protected forms of whistleblowing], may seek relief in accordance with the provisions of this section, *314with any petition or other request for relief under this section to be initiated by filing a complaint with the Secretary of Labor.
B. Legislative History
The Court is also unconvinced by Plaintiff's resort to the legislative history of the Reform Act. As a threshold matter, the Court "ha[s] no authority to enforce [a] principl[e] gleaned solely from legislative history that has no statutory reference point." Nat'l Ass'n of Broads. v. FCC ,
Plaintiff contends-without specific citation-that the Reform Act's legislative history demonstrates that it "was not intended to preclude a private individual's claim for retaliation under the FCA, but merely to free Amtrak from the restrictions of a mixed-corporation company." Dkt. 9 at 12. To be sure, the legislative history of the Reform Act does reflect that Congress intended to "eliminat[e] [f]ederal micromanagement of Amtrak's operations," H.R. Rep. No. 105-251, at 13 (1997), and to allow the carrier to "operate as much like a private business as possible," S. Rep. No. 105-85, at 1 (1997). See also Totten I ,
Finally, Amtrak argues that had Congress intended to subject it to the FCA, Congress could have amended the FCA after the D.C. Circuit's decision in Totten I .
*315CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, the Court will GRANT Defendant's motion to dismiss, Dkt. 5. A separate order will issue.
Amtrak also notes that Congress has twice amended § 24301 of the Reform Act since the D.C. Circuit's decision in Totten I without altering or clarifying the language relating to the title 31 exclusion. See Dkt. 11 at 4 n.1 (citing Pub. L. 110-53, § 1502,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Kathleen A. HARASEK v. NATIONAL RAILROAD PASSENGER CORPORATION d/b/a/ Amtrak
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published