191207P.pdf   06/25/2020  United States ex rel. Benaissa  v.  Trinity Health
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  19-1207
   U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota - Bismarck   
   [PUBLISHED] [Kelly, Author, with Loken and Benton, Circuit Judges] 
   Civil case - Qui Tam and False Claims Act. Plaintiff Benaissa claimed 
   defendant violated the False Claims Act by knowingly presenting a false or 
   fraudulent claim to the government, making a false statement and 
   retaliating against him; the district court did not err in dismissing the 
   case for failure to state a claim; the complaint failed to allege with 
   particularity that defendant presented a false or fraudulent claim to the 
   government or that it had made, used or caused to be used a false record 
   or statement; a relator must allege representative examples of false 
   claims or particular details of a scheme to submit false claims paired 
   with reliable indicia that lead to a strong inference that claims were 
   actually submitted; plaintiff's general allegations that defendant's 
   compensation scheme most likely resulted in the presentment of claims for 
   payment or approval are insufficient to meet this requirement; while there 
   is no "presentment" requirement for a 31 U.S.C. Section 3729(a)(1)(B) 
   claim, the plaintiff must plead a connection between the alleged fraud and 
   the actual claim made payable to the government; here, plaintiff failed to 
   allege with particularity that defendant submitted a claim to the 
   government and cannot establish that the allegedly false statements were 
   material to any claim actually submitted; nor did the court err in 
   dismissing plaintiff's retaliation claim as plaintiff had failed to allege 
   that he engaged in protected activity or that defendant had knowledge of 
   his protected activity.