Oce North America Whistleblower Action–$1.2 Million Settlement

Case name: United States ex rel. Schweizer v. Oce North America, et al.
Case type: Whistleblower & Qui Tam Practice
Filed in: [U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia]
Docket: [Case No.: 1:06CV00648]

Case Summary

In September 2009, Sanford Heisler Sharp and the U.S. Government settled a whistleblower action under the False Claims Act (“FCA”) with Oce North America, Oce Imagistics, and Oce USA Holdings, Inc. (“Oce”), wholly owned subsidiaries of Oce, N.V. of the Netherlands.

As part of the settlement, Oce, a printing and document management company, agreed to pay the government $1.2 million. The Relators, represented by Sanford Heisler Sharp, received 19% of the settlement.

The case alleged that Oce violated the FCA by breaching “price reduction” clauses in its contract with the government that required Oce to provide government customers with the same discounts for the same products provided to non-governmental purchasers. The case further alleged that Oce breached “country-of-origin” clauses that required the company to sell the government only products made in the United States or other countries designated under the Trade Agreements Act.