LEXISNEXIS SETTLES MULTISTATE LAWSUIT OVER FALSE CLAIMS VIOLATIONS, MASSACHUSETTS TO RECEIVE $750,000

LEXISNEXIS SETTLES MULTISTATE LAWSUIT OVER FALSE CLAIMS VIOLATIONS, MASSACHUSETTS TO RECEIVE $750,000

LexisNexis Failed to Pay Law Enforcement Agencies for Resales of Vehicle Accident Reports

BOSTON – Attorney General Maura Healey announced today that LexisNexis Risk Solutions and several of its affiliates (LexisNexis) have agreed to settle a $5.8 million multistate lawsuit over claims that the company knowingly failed to pay contractually agreed fees for the resale of vehicle accident reports it obtained from law enforcement agencies in Massachusetts and other states.

Massachusetts will receive approximately $750,000 as part of the multistate settlement.

Today’s settlement agreement resolves a qui tam complaint brought by a whistleblower, a former employee of LexisNexis, under the Massachusetts False Claims Act, which allows individuals to file civil actions on behalf of the government and share in any recovery.

LexisNexis, a company that provides business research and risk management services, obtains automobile crash reports from law enforcement agencies, and then sells those reports to individuals, insurance companies, and law firms for use in claims adjustment. In Massachusetts, approximately 154 law enforcement agencies entered into contracts where LexisNexis agreed to pay the agencies a fee for each accident report it sold. AG Healey’s investigation revealed, however, that LexisNexis paid law enforcement agencies a fee the first time it sold a report but failed to pay the agencies for each subsequent sale of the same report, as required under the contracts.

Under the terms of the settlement agreement, LexisNexis has also agreed to discontinue its resale practice with law enforcement agencies in the state. 

The whistleblower will receive about $1.1 million out of the total multistate settlement amount of $5.8 million for bringing this misconduct to light.

AG Healey was joined in her investigation of LexisNexis by the attorneys general of Illinois, New Jersey, New York, and Tennessee, as well as the City Solicitor of Baltimore.

This matter was handled by Assistant Attorney General Erin Staab of AG Healey’s False Claims Division, with assistance from Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Walker, Senior Enforcement Counsel Gillian Feiner, Division Chief Amy Crafts, Paralegal Megan Lima, and Financial Investigator Colleen Frost.