Grant Morris
Of Counsel
Phone: 202-486-0678
Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/grant-morris/
My Story
– Sam Cox, Qui Tam Relator and Former Director at Smith & Nephew
Grant Morris is Of Counsel to Sanford Heisler Sharp and Co-Chair of the firm’s Financial Services Litigation Practice.
Grant has served as lead counsel in the largest gender discrimination ($250 million) and wage and hour ($99 million) settlements ever paid by a company (Novartis). He has litigated more than 30 class actions involving employment issues. In addition, he has been successful in several qui tam lawsuits representing US and international clients as whistleblowers who expose fraud and corruption. Grant’s representations have included:
- Originating and serving as co-lead counsel on one of the largest class action age discrimination cases in US history, which settled for $58.5 million
- Securing a $250 million award in Velez v. Novartis Pharms. Corp., the largest gender discrimination recovery in US history
- Securing a $99 million settlement In re Novartis Wage & Hour Litigation on behalf of the class in one of the largest wage and hour settlements in US history
- Securing over $20 million in qui tam settlements against Smith & Nephew and Medtronic for False Claims Act violations
Grant received his law degree from Catholic University Columbus School of Law with honors, his Master of Business Administration with distinction from George Washington University, and his Bachelor of Arts with honors and an outstanding student award from George Washington University. While at Catholic University Columbus School of Law he was a member of the law review and published two law review articles. Grant clerked for the Honorable John D. Butzner of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Prior to working with Sanford Heisler Sharp, Mr. Morris served as Senior Counsel for First American Bankshares and worked in both the Office of General Counsel at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Systematic Division, and the Office of General Counsel at the National Labor Relations Board Appellate Court Branch in Washington, DC. Grant has also assisted various branches of the NAACP across the country, including its national office, in reviewing and litigating discrimination complaints.
Grant was awarded the Outstanding Litigator Award by the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs.
Education
- J.D., Catholic University Columbus School of Law
- M.B.A., George Washington University, with distinction
- B.A., George Washington University, honors
Clerkship
- Honorable John D. Butzner, United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Bar Admissions
- District of Columbia, 1979
- Virginia, 1979
Talented and gifted lawyer.
“During my entire 30-year corporate career, I can say unequivocally that Grant Morris is the most talented and gifted lawyer with whom I have ever worked. The result was extraordinary.” – Sam Cox, Qui Tam Relator and Former Director at Smith & Nephew
Virginia Land Improvement Wage and Hour Class Action
According to the complaint, Defendants regularly failed to compensate the Virginia truck drivers for both straight time and overtime during weeks in which they worked over 40 hours.
Fauquier County, VA Opioid Epidemic Lawsuit
Fauquier County, Virginia, filed the lawsuit in state court against more than 15 opioid manufacturers, distributors, and PBMs.
United States ex rel. Bennett v. AtriCure, Inc. (S.D.Tex.)
Sanford Heisler Sharp brought a whistleblower/qui tam matter against AtriCure, Inc, (“AtriCure”), a medical device manufacturer. Subsequently, AtriCure agreed to pay $4.15 million to resolve all claims against it. The Complaint charged that AtriCure violated the Federal False Claims Act by using illegal kickbacks and an off-label marketing campaign to induce doctors and hospitals to perform AtriCure’s costly inpatient cardiac surgical ablation procedures rather than standard, and more effective outpatient catheter ablation procedures. As a result, the Medicare program faced substantially increased costs from AtriCure’s unnecessary and expensive procedures.
Montgomery County, VA Opioid Epidemic Lawsuit
Montgomery County filed the lawsuit in state court against more than 15 opioid manufacturers, distributors, and PBMs — including pharmaceutical titan Purdue Pharma and worldwide distributor McKesson.
United States ex rel. George v. Endoscopic Technologies, Inc. (“Estech”) (S.D. Tex.)
The settlement resolved allegations that Estech marketed its medical devices to treat atrial fibrillation, a use not approved by the FDA. Allegations also involved Estech’s promoting of expensive heart surgeries using the company’s devices when less invasive alternatives were appropriate; advising hospitals to up-code surgical procedures using the company’s devices to inflate Medicare reimbursements; and paying of kickbacks to healthcare providers to use its devices.
Lee County, VA and Norton Opioid Epidemic Lawsuit
Lee County and the City of Norton filed the lawsuit in state court against more than 15 opioid manufacturers, distributors, and PBMs — including pharmaceutical titan Purdue Pharma and worldwide distributor McKesson.
Martinsville and Henry County, VA Opioid Epidemic Lawsuit
Martinsville and Henry County filed the lawsuit in state court against more than 15 opioid manufacturers, distributors, and PBMs — including pharmaceutical titan Purdue Pharma and worldwide distributor McKesson.
United States ex rel. Gipson v. Pathway Genomics Corporation – $4.1 Million Settlement
Sanford Heisler Sharp along with Aashish Y. Desai of the Desai Law Firm, P.C., represented Relator Monique Gipson, who sued San Diego-based Pathway Genomics in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California under the whistleblower provisions of the federal False Claims Act, the federal Anti-Kickback Statute, and the relevant provisions of the false claims acts of the states and the District of Columbia pertaining to healthcare fraud. Gipson was a former sales representative at Pathway Genomics with first-hand knowledge of the company’s wrongdoing.
Novartis Pharmaceutical Wage & Hour Class Action – $99 Million Settlement
In 2012, Sanford Heisler Sharp reached a $99 million settlement with Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation (”Novartis”) to resolve a nationwide class and collective action brought on behalf of thousands of Novartis sales representatives. The settlement ranks among the largest wage and hour settlements.
Page County, VA Opioid Epidemic Lawsuit
Page County filed the lawsuit in state court against more than 15 opioid manufacturers, distributors, and PBMs — including pharmaceutical titan Purdue Pharma and worldwide distributor McKesson.
Galax and Giles County, VA Opioid Epidemic Lawsuits
Galax and Giles County filed the lawsuits in state court against more than 15 opioid manufacturers, distributors, and PBMs — including pharmaceutical titan Purdue Pharma and worldwide distributor McKesson.
Washington County, VA Opioid Epidemic Lawsuit
Washington County filed the lawsuit in state court against more than 15 opioid manufacturers, distributors, and PBMs — including pharmaceutical titan Purdue Pharma and worldwide distributor McKesson.
United States ex rel. Cox v. Smith & Nephew (W.D. Tenn.) – $11 Million Settlement
Sanford Heisler Sharp won a $11.3 million qui tam settlement against Smith & Nephew one of the world’s largest medical device manufacturers. The whistleblower, represented by the firm and the U.S. Department of Justice, alleged that Smith & Nephew violated the Trade Agreements Act (“TAA”) and the False Claims Act by selling products to the Government that were manufactured in countries with which the United States is not a trading partner, under contracts governed by the TAA.
Alexandria & Dickenson County, VA Opioid Epidemic Lawsuits
The City of Alexandria and Dickenson County, Virginia, represented by Sanford Heisler Sharp and The Cicala Law Firm PLLC became the first municipalities in the Commonwealth of Virginia to pursue legal action against opioid manufacturers, distributors, and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) for their role in creating the public health emergency caused by prescription opioids.
City Gear, LLC Wage and Hour Class Action
The company categorized these workers as salaried managerial employees but failed to pay them on a true salary basis. If the employees failed to work a particular number of hours per week, City Gear did not pay them their full salaries; instead, the company took pay deductions premised on an hourly rate of pay. The employees alleged that the company could not have it both ways and must pay them for their overtime. The case settled on a class basis in 2014.