California is the largest state in the country by population, and has an equally large and diverse set of transportation infrastructure. Given their vast responsibility, each year there are numerous lawsuits regarding failures of Caltrans or local MTAs to adhere to their own guidelines, local law, or state law regarding the maintenance and operation of shared infrastructure. While data on total Caltrans settlements and verdicts is not readily publicly available, the California State Controller maintains a list of MTA budgets including their total yearly expenses for “Casualty and Liability Expenses” (lawsuits and injuries). Across two fiscal years, 2021 and 2022, the state MTAs collectively had total casualty and liability expenses of $436,275,000.

The Department of Justice issued a number of press releases over the last month, summarizing multiple False Claim Act and Qui Tam settlements. The False Claim Act was the nation’s first whistleblower law, intended to combat fraud against the government.  

The False Claims Act was updated to add additional penalties and protections including the addition of whistleblower rewards.  Rewards of up to 30% of the eventual fine or fee paid by bad actors could be awarded to the whistleblower who reported the fraud.