On March 4, 2000, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit overturned a $52 million “bounty” award to an alleged whistleblower who claimed that a government contractor had overcharged the government. The decision was a victory for WLF, which had filed a brief opposing the bounty payment (which was to be financed by federal tax dolars). The court agreed with WLF that no bounty was due under the federal False Claims Act because the alleged overcharges were already a matter of public record at the time the alleged whistleblower stepped forward.