City of Pomona v. Superior Court

In City of Pomona v. Superior Court (2001) 89 Cal.App.4th 793, the defendant manufactured supply pipes and other water distribution parts that were sold to the City of Pomona (Pomona) for use in its municipal water system. (Pomona, supra, 89 Cal.App.4th at pp. 797-799.) The defendant represented in its catalogs and sales literature that its parts complied with specified national standards. (Id. at p. 797.) One of those standards required that all material coming into contact with potable water contain a specified combination of metals, in order to minimize corrosion. (Ibid.) Separate notations in the defendant's catalogs asserted compliance with that particular standard. (Id. at pp. 797-798.) Nevertheless, some of the parts purchased by Pomona were in fact made of an inferior metal combination. (Id. at p. 799.) The Court of Appeal concluded the plaintiffs had stated a claim under the CFCA. The representations in the catalog were intended to induce purchases and Pomona was deemed to have incorporated the catalog specifications into its order. (Pomona, at pp. 803-804.) When the defendant delivered nonconforming parts and sought payment, it constituted a false claim, both because the contract with Pomona was induced by a falsity and because the bill sought payment for a good which had not been provided. (Id. at pp. 804-805.)