By Julide Ozmeral
In May of 2025, the Department of Justice (DOJ) began promoting use of the False Claims Act (FCA) for whistleblowing on organizations maintaining “divisive” diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies via its newly minted “Civil Rights Fraud Initiative.” In doing so, the DOJ outlined an unprecedented pathway for potential relators to apply the FCA’s qui tam provisions. This Comment argues that deploying the FCA in this manner is a wrongful application of the Act and distorts its intent. Alleged unlawful DEI practices do not constitute false claims under a traditional understanding of the FCA and would likely fail to meet the Supreme Court’s materiality and knowledge thresholds for FCA implied certification actions. For these reasons, the DOJ’s promotion of these sorts of FCA actions constitutes an illegitimate and likely unsuccessful legal strategy.