Hueston Hennigan has defeated in full a lawsuit against Deloitte Consulting for alleged violations of California’s False Claims Act and Government Code § 1090.
“We strongly believed that the Plaintiff’s allegations were wrong on the facts and law,” said John Hueston. “We are pleased that the court accepted our arguments and thrilled to obtain this early dismissal for Deloitte Consulting.”
The case arose out of a project the City of San Diego began in 2014 to overhaul its enterprise asset management system. The City hired Deloitte Consulting to provide professional consulting services, including the implementation and integration of software designed by SAP America, Inc.
Plaintiff Thomas Rocco, a former SAP employee, brought this qui tam lawsuit in 2017, alleging that Deloitte Consulting and SAP had violated numerous conflicts of interest laws and conspired to defraud the City out of public funds. Rocco claimed, among other things, that Deloitte Consulting had billed the City for work it did not perform, exchanged illegal kickbacks with SAP, intentionally concealed conflicts of interest, and rigged the City’s bidding system. Rocco sought to invalidate the entire contract between Deloitte Consulting and the City and treble damages and fines in excess of $75 million.
Hueston Hennigan aggressively and strategically moved to obtain early dismissal of Rocco’s 118-page complaint. After several rounds of demurrers, an Orange County Superior Court judge granted Hueston Hennigan’s third demurrer with prejudice on all remaining claims against Deloitte Consulting.
Deloitte Consulting is represented by John Hueston and Joseph Reiter of Hueston Hennigan LLP.