International Shipping Contract Fraud Suit Reinstated on Appeal

Whistleblower and shipping company Sedona Partners LLC won another opportunity to allege that rival companies engaged in a fraudulent scheme to secure government contracts from the US General Services Administration.

A federal district court erred in concluding that it must dismiss the suit for lack of particularity solely because Sedona relied on evidence obtained in discovery, Judge Jill Pryor of the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit said in Friday opinion.

Federal rule of civil procedure 9(b), which requires plaintiffs to plead fraud with adequate detail, doesn’t bar plaintiffs from raising allegations based on information from discovery, the ...