Hanford contractor settles fraud suit for $3.45M

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington, HMIS’ management was aware of and failed to prevent inflated labor hours being charged to the DOE, including payment for labor hours for which HMIS employees were not scheduled or assigned sufficient work to perform.

A joint venture composed of Leidos, Centerra, and Parsons, HMIS was awarded a $4 billion contract by the DOE in 2019 to provide mission-essential infrastructure and site services at Hanford.

Whistleblower suit: The settlement stems from two complaints filed by a HMIS employee under the False Claims Act, which requires the federal government to investigate allegations and then decide whether to intervene and take over the action or to decline to intervene and allow the whistleblower, referred to as a “relator,” to sue on behalf of the United States. The two complaints were filed by the same relator in December 2021 and May 2024.

According to the allegations, HMIS fraudulently inflated reimbursable costs by failing to provide its employees with work assignments sufficient to fill an entire shift and then directed those same employees to record their time as if they had worked the entire shift.

The settlement: The investigation into the fraud allegations was jointly conducted by the U.S Attorney’s Office and the DOE Office of Inspector General. In settling the investigation, HMIS admitted that it sought and received reimbursement for labor hours made up of unallowable excessive idle time.

As part of the settlement agreement, the relator will receive $793,500 of the settlement amount and is entitled to have HMIS pay the relator’s attorney fees. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, HMIS agreed to pay back more than twice what it was accused of overbilling the DOE.

Quote: “Corporate fraud perpetrated upon the taxpayer at Hanford distracts from DOE’s vital cleanup mission,” said assistant U.S. Attorney S. Peter Serrano. “This resolution shows our continuing commitment to fighting fraud at Hanford and to ensuring that those tasked with the responsibility of essential environmental cleanup do not abuse our trust in them.”