The first head of Colorado’s Behavioral Health Administration filed a federal lawsuit this week seeking financial compensation and the return of her job because she alleges the state fired her because of her race.

Dr. Morgan Medlock, who is Black, was chief medical officer and director of crisis and emergency services in Washington, D.C., before coming to Colorado to serve as commissioner of the new Behavioral Health Administration in January 2022. She lost her job in April 2023.

Medlock sued in U.S. District Court on Tuesday, alleging the state, Gov. Jared Polis, Colorado Department of Humans Services executive director Michelle Barnes and the governor’s former chief of staff, Alec Garnett, discriminated and retaliated against her.

[…]

Medlock alleged that Barnes treated her “less favorably” than non-Black members of the governor’s cabinet, and incorrectly listed her as reporting to Barnes rather than to Polis in a Department of Human Services organization chart. She also said one of Barnes’ subordinates reprimanded her for the way she chaired a meeting, which she attributed to her identity as a Black woman.

» View full story on The Denver Post

 

[ADDITIONAL COVERAGE]

Colo. Gov. Ignored Ex-Official’s Race Bias Concerns, Suit Says

From Law360 (April 15, 2025)

A former commissioner of Colorado’s Behavioral Health Administration filed a race discrimination lawsuit on Tuesday accusing Gov. Jared Polis and his former chief of staff of ignoring reports that she was treated worse than peers because she is African American and then firing her for complaining.

Dr. Morgan Medlock was hired to launch the newly formed agency under the Colorado Department of Human Services in January 2022. As BHA commissioner, Medlock was also a member of the governor’s cabinet.

The complaint recounts various incidents over Medlock’s 15-month tenure in which she says Polis, his former Chief of Staff Alec Garnett and CDHS Executive Director Michelle Barnes failed to address discriminatory conduct toward her and undermined her role as a cabinet member.

She alleges that she went straight to the governor after clashes in which Garnett accused her of being disrespectful and intervened in the hiring process for Medlock’s new chief of staff.

Medlock says she complained to Garnett in March 2023 about online harassment from “a prominent white stakeholder.” The next day, during a meeting between the two, Garnett accused Medlock of being disrespectful, the lawsuit claims.

[…]

R. Scott Oswald of The Employment Law Group PC, counsel for Medlock, said in a statement to Law360 on Tuesday that his client was “repeatedly treated worse than her non-Black peers in Gov. Polis’ cabinet.”

“When she drew attention to this, including by reaching out directly to the governor, she faced nothing but inaction, retaliation, and ultimately firing,” said. “No one can be expected simply to lie down for such injustice — and this complaint shows that Ms. Medlock, a proud public servant, will instead stand up and be heard in court.”

One U.S. defense contractor set up a way to remotely access an office computer. Another forwarded 37 sensitive but unclassified work emails to a personal account. A third sent three emails with classified information to co-workers on an unauthorized system.

They all lost their federal security clearances as a result of the lapses, ending their work for the Pentagon.

The Washington Post reviewed hundreds of cases involving contractors alleged to have used unauthorized technology or mishandled sensitive government information — the same types of security violations that experts have said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth may have committed last month when he disclosed the details of impending airstrikes in Yemen using the commercial messaging platform Signal. Hegseth shared that information with a group that included top national security officials and a journalist from the Atlantic.

[…]

“These people had their security clearances either denied or revoked for conduct that was far less serious than this, what occurred with the Signal exchange,” said R. Scott Oswald, managing principal at the Employment Law Group, who represents workers who have lost security clearances. Oswald reviewed summaries of the cases identified by The Post.

Though the specific circumstances differ, Oswald and other experts who reviewed summaries of the cases at The Post’s request said they show how ordinary workers have lost security clearances for actions that in key respects are similar to Hegseth’s use of Signal.

The U.S. Department of Justice said it reached a nearly $2 million settlement with a Virginia-based contractor, resolving claims it knowingly sold equipment to the Air Force that was not authorized under the contract and invoiced for undelivered products.

The DOJ said in a Thursday press release that Intelligent Waves LLC agreed to pay $1.95 million to settle False Claims Act allegations involving two Air Force contracts. The deal arises in connection with a lawsuit filed by two former Intelligent Waves employees under the FCA’s whistleblower provision in December 2022.

According to the DOJ, Intelligent Waves entered into the first contract with the Air Force in September 2019. Under the $89.2 million contract, Intelligent Waves provided crowdsourced flight data collection support and data analytics to the 59th Test and Evaluation Squadron at Nellis Air Force Base in southern Nevada.

» View full story on Law360

 

[OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT]

Government contractor to pay $1.95M to settle False Claims Act allegations

From the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Virginia (April 3, 2025)

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Intelligent Waves, LLC, located in Reston, and its owner agreed to pay $1.95 million to settle False Claims Act allegations involving two Air Force contracts.

In September 2019, Intelligent Waves entered into a contract, known as the Crowd-Sourced Contract, with the Air Force. Under the Crowd-Sourced Contract, Intelligent Waves provided crowd-sourced flight data collection support and data analytics to the 59th Test and Evaluation Squadron at Nellis Air Force Base. The United States alleged that Intelligent Waves knowingly sold certain equipment to the Air Force that was not authorized under the Crowd-Sourced Contract and submitted invoices to the Air Force that portrayed the unauthorized equipment as authorized equipment under the Contract. The United States also alleged that Intelligent Waves knowingly invoiced the Air Force for products and/or labor that it did not deliver in the specific quantities stated in its invoices. After it failed to deliver the products and/or labor stated in its invoices, Intelligent Waves failed to provide a credit to the Air Force for undelivered products and/or labor, providing substitute products requested by non-procurement personnel instead.

In November 2020, Intelligent Waves also entered into a contract, known as the Special Access Program Facilities (SAPF) Contract, with the Air Force to build special access program facilities at Edwards Air Force Base,. The United States alleged that Intelligent Waves knowingly made false statements that induced the award of the SAPF Contract.

» View press release on Justice.gov

 

[ADDITIONAL COVERAGE]

Two area women to receive payment for being whistleblowers in federal fraud case

From The Fredericksburg Free Lance Star (April 8, 2025)

Two Fredericksburg area residents will receive cash payments for their roles as whistleblowers in a case in which a Reston-based technology professional services provider was accused of ripping off the Unites States government.

[…]

Nora Taylor of Spotsylvania and Marthe Lattinville-Pace of Strafford were both fired from Intelligent Waves. They said they raised concerns about unauthorized IT equipment that was different from what the company was contracted to provide.

Represented by The Employment Law Group in Washington, the women filed a whistleblower lawsuit in federal court near the end of 2022 that was kept under seal until last week.

» View full story on The Fredericksburg Free Lance Star

 

Reston veteran-owned contractor Intelligent Waves settles DOJ allegations

From Washington Business Journal (April 7, 2025)

Intelligent Waves LLC, a veteran-owned Reston IT contractor, has agreed to pay $1.95 million to settle a whistleblower lawsuit filed under the False Claims Act involving two U.S. Air Force contracts. The company did not admit wrongdoing.

» View full story on Washington Business Journal

 

2 Whistleblowers To Get Share Of $1.95M False Claims Act Settlement

From Patch (April 3, 2025)

RESTON, VA — A Reston-based defense contractor agreed to pay $1.95 million in order to settle False Claims Act allegations involving two Air Force contracts, according to a U.S. Attorney’s Office release.

Two former Intelligent Waves employees filed a false claims lawsuit against the company under the whistleblower provision of the False Claims Act. As such, the two whistleblowers will receive a percentage of the $1.95 million settlement.

[…]

The U.S. Attorney accused Intelligent Waves of knowingly making false statements that induced the awarding of the SAPF contract and provided meals and entertainment to Air Force employees before the award of and during the period of performance of the crowd-sourced and SAPF contracts, court records say.

[…]

On top of that, Intelligent Waves also knowingly submitted invoices to the Air Force for products and/or labor that the company failed to deliver, court records say. The contractor failed to provide credit to the Air Force for the undelivered products and/or labor. Instead, the company provided substitute products requested by non-procurement personnel.

» View full story on Patch

 

Intelligent Waves Reaches $2M Settlement in False Claims Act Case

From USA Herald (April 4, 2025)

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced a nearly $2 million settlement with Virginia-based contractor Intelligent Waves LLC, resolving claims that the company knowingly sold unauthorized equipment to the Air Force and billed for undelivered products. The agreement, totaling $1.95 million, settles allegations brought under the False Claims Act (FCA) in connection with two separate Air Force contracts.

The case originated from a lawsuit filed in December 2022 by two former Intelligent Waves employees under the FCA’s whistleblower provision. Their claims prompted a federal investigation that unearthed alleged contractual violations spanning two major Air Force contracts.

» View full story on USA Herald

Swamped with calls and emails from prospective clients whose jobs are on the chopping block, some attorneys who represent federal employees are changing the way they deliver services, in hopes of reaching the most people.

But at the same time, these employment lawyers are taking steps to mitigate the risk of retribution for trying to impede the effort to cut the federal payroll.

[…]

The Office of Special Counsel, a federal watchdog agency, has determined that a handful of the probationary employees who were cut were actually subject to reductions in force, in what appears to be a novel situation, said Vogelsang.

The OSC is seeking a stay of layoffs to probationary employees on that grounds, and the request is before the Merit Systems Protection Board, he said.

That theory provides “viable avenues, given that there are rules that the government has to follow to do a reduction in force. This is where I think there is an avenue of, I don’t want to say an avenue of, redress, because I can’t say anyone’s done it before. I think it’s an avenue of exploration,” Vogelsang said.

[…]

Moving ahead, a key factor in the federal workers’ fate is what happens with the MSPB, Vogelsang said. The three-member panel has been in turmoil, but a lot is riding on the OSC’s request to stay the terminations of probationary employees, he said. If the MSPB agrees with the OSC that the probationary termination tool is being used improperly, Vogelsang says, the administration will resort to large-scale reductions in force, which is a longer and more complex process.