D.C. Court Dismisses Spectrum Auction False Claims Act Complaint Against UScellular

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed a False Claims Act action brought by lawyers Mark O’Connor and Sara Leibman, who allege that defendants fraudulently represented that Frequency Advantage was a “very small business” qualifying for “designated entity” status and a bidding discount in a 2015 spectrum auction. The case had been brought against UScellular and Frequency Advantage, along with other defendants, including Advantage Spectrum, King Street Wireless and Telephone and Data Systems. The court earlier dismissed the case but granted plaintiffs “leave to amend their allegations to allow them to attempt to proffer different allegations or transactions from those already in the public domain,” the court said: “The Amended Complaint fails to do so. The ‘core allegation’ Plaintiffs-Relators identify in their Amended Complaint is the same as in their original Complaint, which the court already held did not overcome the public disclosure bar. They proffer the same FCC filings and other public information from their original Complaint.”