124
Opinion of the Court
In 1997, Chandler filed this qui tam action, claiming that Cook County (hereinafter County) and the institute had submitted false statements to obtain grant funds in violation of § 3729(a)(1).3 Chandler said that the defendants had violated the grant's express conditions, had failed to comply with the regulations on human-subject research, and had submitted false reports of what she called "ghost" research subjects. Chandler also alleged that she was fired for reporting the fraud to doctors at the hospital and to the granting agency, rendering her dismissal a violation of both state law and the whistle-blower provision of the FCA, § 3730(h).4 The Government declined to intervene in the action.
The County moved to dismiss the claims against it, arguing, among other things, that it was not a "person" subject to liability under the FCA.5 The District Court denied the motion, reading the term "person" in the FCA to include state and local governments. United States ex rel. Chandler v. Hektoen Institute for Medical Research, 35 F. Supp. 2d 1078 (ND Ill. 1999). The Court of Appeals dismissed the County's interlocutory appeal, and we denied certiorari. 528 U. S. 931 (1999). After Stevens came down, however, the District Court reconsidered the County's motion and dismissed Chandler's action. Although the court found "no reason to alter its conclusion that the County is a 'person' for purposes of the FCA," it held that the County, like a State, could not be subjected to treble damages, which Stevens, supra, at 784, described not as "remedial" but as "essentially punitive." 118 F. Supp. 2d 902, 903 (2000). The
3 The hospital was originally a defendant as well but was dismissed from the case as having no identity independent of the County. 277 F. 3d 969, 971, n. 2 (CA7 2002).
4 Chandler's retaliation claims against the County were dismissed because the institute, not the County, was her employer. United States ex rel. Chandler v. Hektoen Institute for Medical Research, 35 F. Supp. 2d 1078, 1087 (ND Ill. 1999).
5 The institute also moved to dismiss, on different grounds; the denial of that motion is not before us. 277 F. 3d, at 969, n. 1.
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