Colette G. Matzzie, a partner at Phillips & Cohen, represents whistleblowers in a wide variety of qui tam cases brought under the federal False Claims Act and similar state false claims laws.
Her practice includes pursuing fraud cases that involve healthcare fraud, defense contractor fraud and government procurement fraud as well as other types of wrongdoing involving recipients of federal and state funds.
Ms. Matzzie has been named one of the “500 Leading Lawyers in America” for the past 11 years by Lawdragon magazine based on her work representing whistleblowers. The CBS series, “Whistleblower,” devoted an entire episode to two of her whistleblower cases and included interviews with her.
Some of her more prominent cases are:
- A ground-breaking whistleblower case against eClinicalWorks, an electronic health records company, that alleged eCW falsely represented that its EHR system complied with federal “Meaningful Use” requirements and offered kickbacks to customers. The case settled for $155 million and was featured on the CBS series, “Whistleblower” (Episode 6). Additional settlements against electronic health records companies include Konica Minolta in 2020 ($500,000), CareCloud in 2021 ($3.8 million), Modernizing Medicine in 2022 ($45 million), and NextGen in 2023 ($31 million).
- A qui tam case brought under the False Claims Act against Verizon Communications that resulted in a settlement of $93.5 million.
- A whistleblower case against Boehringer Ingelheim (BI), which paid $95 million to the government to settle allegations that BI marketed three of its drugs for “off-label” uses and paid kickbacks to boost sales.
- Two qui tam cases against separate chains of pain management clinics, one alleging the clinics billed for unnecessary urine drug tests (part of a $24.5 million settlement) and the other alleging the clinics billed Medicare for “P-Stims” and other devices that Medicare doesn’t cover ($7.4 million settlement).
- A whistleblower case against Sodexo involving illegal retention of “off-invoice rebates” paid by food vendors from public schools and universities that were in effect kickbacks. The $20 million settlement was the largest non-Medicaid fraud settlement under the New York False Claims Act.
- A qui tam whistleblower case against Chartwells, a school food services contractor, for allegedly serving poor quality or spoiled food to students and causing Washington, DC, public schools to pay millions more for the school meal program than it should have. The case settled for $19.4 million and was later the focus of an episode of the CBS series, “Whistleblower.” (Episode 6.) (Hear about the Sodexo and Chartwells cases in the podcast, Left Over, Episode 4.)
- A qui tam case against AAR Corp. and a subsidiary alleging that the defense contractor failed to properly maintain aircraft used to transport troops in Afghanistan. AAR paid $11 million to settle the case, along with a $429,000 fine to the FAA over the safety concerns.
...while we were suing on behalf of the government, our goal was always to ensure quality school food programs for the kids.
- A whistleblower case brought by a doctor that resulted in stopping illegal importation of oncology drugs.
- Two path-breaking cases alleging submission of false claims for Social Security Disability benefits by two private disability insurers, the Unum Group and Cigna.
State legislatures should be considering ways they can encourage and reward whistle-blowers to help law enforcement, which will benefit all of their citizens, rather than enacting statutes that allow businesses to hide their criminal practices behind closed doors.
An experienced appellate litigator, Ms. Matzzie has played a lead role in litigation of whistleblower cases, arguing cases in the US District Courts and the US Courts of Appeals. Two notable victories include published decisions awarding whistleblower clients “relator shares” recognizing the whistleblower’s substantial contribution to the success of the qui tam action.
She also assists counsel for other whistleblowers with qui tam litigation in the federal courts, including the United States Supreme Court. Ms. Matzzie has spoken at conferences on legal issues arising under the False Claims Act, healthcare and procurement fraud, and amendments to the qui tam law.
Prior to joining Phillips & Cohen, Ms. Matzzie served on the civil appellate staff of the US Department of Justice for five years. In addition, she served as a trial attorney on the Justice Department’s Tobacco Litigation team.
From 1995 to 1999, Ms. Matzzie was a staff attorney with Public Citizen Litigation Group where she litigated cases concerning public health and safety, access to information, consumer protection, separation of powers and access to the civil justice system. She has served on the adjunct faculty at Georgetown University Law Center, teaching a seminar on “Public Interest Advocacy.”
Ms. Matzzie graduated magna cum laude from the Georgetown University Law Center. She was Senior Articles Editor of The Georgetown Law Journal. After graduating, she clerked for the Honorable Dolores K. Sloviter, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. She is the 1995 recipient of the Frederick B. Abramson Public Service Award.
Ms. Matzzie is a member of the US District Court for the District of Columbia; the US Court of Appeals for the First, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, DC and Federal Circuits; and the US Supreme Court. She also is a member of the District of Columbia bar.
- Pennsylvania Telecom Co. Will Pay $6.5M To Settle FCA Case,” Law 360, July 12, 2024.
- “Outlook 2024: FCA Cases May Not Always Go it Alone; MA Enforcement Spreads to Providers,” Report on Medicare Compliance, January 15, 2024.
- “Kickbacks, Materiality Were Focus of the Biggest FCA Opinions in 2023, Bloomberg Law, December 29, 2023.
- “6 Biggest Healthcare Fraud cases of 2023,” Law 360, December 13, 2023.
- “Thomas Dissent Could Signal ‘Twilight’ for False Claims Act,” Bloomberg Law, June 23, 2023.
- “Unanimous Supreme Court Decision Restores ‘Common Sense’ to Interpreting FCA, Lawyer Says,” Report on Medicare Compliance, June 5, 2023.
- “Lured by a bigger payday, a medical device maker sold fake plastic parts. Many were implanted in chronic pain patients,” Stat News, May 30, 2023.
- “FCA Chases ‘Shrewder’ Kickbacks As 50-Year Hunt Intensifies,” Law 360, May 10, 2023.
- “FCA Bar Jittery as ‘Game-Changing Case’ Goes to Justices,” Law 360, April 14, 2023.
- “DOJ Again Deploys FCA in Cybersecurity Case;
Florida Medicaid Contractor Was Hacked,” Report on Medicare Compliance, March 20, 2023. - “High Court’s FCA Showdown Is Already Shaping DOJ Probes,” Law 360, February 22, 2023.
- “Justices Scrutinize Government’s Authority to Dismiss ‘Qui Tam’ Whistleblower Lawsuits,” Law.com, December 6, 2022.
- “ER Provider Modernizing Medicine Agrees to $45M Settlement to resolve illegal kickback claims,” Fierce Healthcare, November 4, 2022.
- “Whistleblowers Eye Clearer Path Following Supreme Court Denials,” Bloomberg Law, October 20, 2022.
- “Dish Network Must Again Face Whistleblower’s License Suit,” Bloomberg Law, May 17, 2022.
- “Tampa’s Physician Partners of America agrees to $24.5M whistleblower settlement,” Tampa Business Journal, April 13, 2022.
- “Docs faked patient visits and orders; caught in telehealth crime,” Medscape, March 3, 2022.
- “NJ, NY pain management clinics pay $7.4 million to settle Medicare fraud case,” My Central Jersey, January 13, 2022.
- “NY, NJ Health Centers Reach $7.5M Deal To End FCA Claims,” Law360, January 12, 2022.
- “Outlook 2022: COVID-19 Fraud May Factor in Cases ‘Based on Different Allegations,'” Reports on Medicare Compliance, January 10, 2022.
- “CareCloud agrees to pay millions to settle kickback allegations,” South Florida Business Journal, April 30, 2021.
- “Outlook 2021: Expect ‘Vigorous’ FCA Enforcement; Prosecutor: Don’t Back Off Compliance,” Report on Medicare Compliance, January 11, 2021.
- “Konica Minolta pays $500K to settle EHR whistleblower case,” Healthcare IT News, August 28, 2020.
- “Konica Minolta To Pay $500K Over Faked Health Program Cert.,” Law360, August 28, 2020.
- Opioid Case Spotlights Use of AI for Health-Care Fraud,” Bloomberg Law, January 29, 2020.
- “The case against eClinicalWorks; the case against Chartwells,” CBS True Crime’s Whistleblower, S1 E6, August 17, 2018.
Watch an excerpt from Whistleblower, featuring Ms. Matzzie speaking about her client Brendan Delaney, whom she represented in the ground-breaking case against eClinicalWorks.
- “Deceased man’s estate files $1B suit against eClinicalWorks,” HealthcareDive.
- “Whistleblower attorney expects more false claims lawsuits against EHR vendors,” Fierce Healthpayer, August 10, 2017.
- “Feds fine eClinicalWorks $155M for EHR performance issues,” Health Data Management, June 1, 2017.
- “eClinicalWorks whistleblower: NYC health department was indifferent to EHR flaws,” Healthcare IT News, May 31, 2017.
- “Westborough health records vendor settles false-claims suit for $155M,” Boston Globe, May 31, 2017.
- “Health records vendor settles false-claims lawsuit for $155M,” Associated Press, May 31, 2017.
- “Feds levy $155M fine against software vendor for faulty patient records,” POLITICO, May 31, 2017.
- “Supreme Court clarifies government contract fraud,” USA Today, June 16, 2016.
- “HCA pays $2 million to settle whistleblower case over heart procedures,” Modern Healthcare, December 22, 2015.
- “HCA to pay $2 million to settle whistleblower suit over heart surgeries,” Healthcare Finance, December 22, 2015.
- “5 Things GCs Need To Know About Whistleblowers,” Law360, May 27, 2015.
- “Whistleblowers dodge disaster in Supreme Court’s KBR decision,” Reuters, May 27, 2015.
- “150th Anniversary of the False Claims Act,” CSPAN, December 2, 2013.
- “Ralph Nader to Canada: Don’t open door to Verizon,” Toronto Star, August 22, 2013.
- “DOJ Intervenes in Whistleblower Suit Against Lance Armstrong,” Legal Times, February 22, 2013.
- “Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals to Pay $95 Million to Settle False Claims Act Charge,” Corporate Crime Reporter, October 25, 2012.
- “Whistleblower in Verizon Case Demands Bigger Cut of $93.5M Settlement,” Legal Times, June 22, 2011.
Watch Ms. Matzzie talk about the False Claims Act on CSPAN:
- “Five Lessons from the Five Years Since the eClinicalWorks Settlement” – HISTalk
- “Review of Gov’t Action Dismissal Could Restrict FCA Claims,” Law360, March 2, 2022.
- “Top 10 Takeaways From the eClinicalWorks Settlement” – HIStalk
- “Protecting Whistle-Blowers Against Retaliation” – New York Times (Letter to the Editor)
- “Stating a strong case for insurers using state whistleblower laws against fraudsters” – Journal of Insurance Fraud in America
- “Supreme Court Says No Free Pass for Qui Tam Defendants in False Claims Act Cases” – Law.com
- Recurring Issues in False Claims Act Litigation – Federal Judiciary Center – November 19, 2013
- “The Public-Private Partnership Between Relator’s Counsel and Government: Everything You Never Knew You Never Knew” – American Conference Institute’s False Claims and Qui Tam Enforcement, January 23, 2024
- “Hot Topics in Fraud and Abuses” – HCCA Healthcare and Enforcement Compliance Conference, Nov. 7, 2023
- “Developing Precedent on the FCA Element of Scienter” – Federal Bar Association’s Qui Tam Conference, February 16, 2023
- “False Claims Act settlements” – ABA’s Procurement & False Claims Committee, Feb. 10, 2022
- “The DOJ’s Evolving Civil Enforcement Priorities: From the Yates Memo to the Brand Memo and Beyond” – Mason University’s Law & Economics Center, December 2021
- “The False Claims Act: What Aviation Practitioners And Their Clients Need To Know About Litigating False Claims” – ABA’s Aviation Litigation Conference, October 2021
- “The Growth of Cybersecurity Whistleblowing” – DC Bar’s Changing Currents in Employment Law, October 2021
- “Government Contracts 2021” – Practising Law Institute, October 2021
- “A Whistleblower Attorney’s Perspective” – American Hospital Association’s Chief Compliance Officers Roundtable, April 2020
- “Government Contracts – Practicing Law Institute,” September 2019
- Qui tam roundtable – 19th Annual Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Compliance Congress, November 2018
- “Whistleblowing Under the False Claims Act” – HIMSS18, March 9, 2018
- “False Claims Act Case Update” – ABA Procurement Fraud Committee, Oct. 2017
- “Handling Whistleblower Claims 2017: Rights of Private Sector Employees” – District of Columbia Bar CLE, May 2017
- Procurement Fraud Committee – ABA Section of Public Contract Law, Feb. 2016
- “When the Whistle Blows: Trends and Developments in False Claims Act and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Liability and Enforcement” – Women of the Section Litigation Conference, November 2015
- “FCA 101,” “Developments in FCA Liability: Exploring Recent Scienter, Materiality, and Falsity Issues,” “Relator Share Issues,” “Update on ‘False Certification’ Issues,” and “The Evolving Role of the Relator: Opportunities and Challenges” – Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund annual conferences
- “The Civil False Claims Act” – Boards of Contract Appeals Bar Association Annual Program, October 2014
- “False Claims, Investigations and Disclosures” – The Government Contracts Program, September 2014
- “A Civil War Relic Finds New Life: The Civil False Claims Act” – National Defense Industrial Association, May 2014
- “False Claims and Disability Rights” – Disability Rights Bar Association, April 19, 2013
- The Procurement Fraud Committee of the ABA Section of Public Contract Law, October 18, 2012
- “The 2009 FCA Amendments: Perspectives of Government and Relators’ Counsel,” 16th Annual Federal Procurement Institute, ABA Section of Public Contract Law, March 2010
- “Lawdragon Legend of 2022″
- “Best Lawyers in America” – Best Lawyers, 2022, 2023, 2024
- “500 Leading Lawyers in America” – Lawdragon, 2012 – 2024
- “500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers” – Lawdragon, 2019 – 2024
- Super Lawyers, 2019-2024
- “Top Lawyers in DC” – Washingtonian Magazine, 2015, 2018
- Special Commendation Award – Department of Justice, 2000
- Frederick B. Abramson Public Service Award – 1995