backOn July 20, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas denied a pro se plaintiff’s motion for leave to amend her complaint to allege claims against Deloitte LLP while allowing her to assert retaliation claims against accounting firm, Horne LLP.
The plaintiff originally brought a qui tam action under the False Claims Act against her former employer, Horne, as well as Deloitte, other accounting firms, and individual defendants alleging compliance and control failures in connection with Horne’s and others’ processing of applications for rental assistance under the Texas Rent Relief program. In December 2025, the court dismissed plaintiff’s FCA claims on the basis that a pro se plaintiff cannot pursue FCA claims on the government’s behalf. In January 2026, plaintiff moved for leave to amend her complaint to drop the dismissed qui tam claims and assert new retaliation and wrongful discharge claims against Horne and Deloitte. Both Horne and Deloitte opposed leave to amend.
The court noted that plaintiff’s proposed complaint “contain[ed] mixed signals about her intent to assert claims against Deloitte” because the complaint’s caption did not list Deloitte as a defendant and the complaint alleged only that Deloitte was “engaged on the program as a subcontractor with responsibilities related to audit and/or oversight functions, and that Deloitte billed the program for those services.” The court held that the lone statement regarding Deloitte “comes nowhere close to stating any plausible claim against Deloitte” and denied leave to amend to assert claims against Deloitte. The court, however, allowed the plaintiff to assert whistleblower retaliation claims, under the FCA and the National Defense Authorization Act, against Horne. The court held that the proposed claims were not futile because, among other reasons, the plaintiff alleged that she was terminated by Horne less than four months after engaging in protected activity—reporting suspected fraud against the government.
The case is United States ex rel. Walden-Bing v. Horne, LLP, No. 4:23-cv-1792 (S.D. Tex. July 20, 2026). Deloitte is represented by Ewell, Brown, Blanke & Knight LLP. Horne is represented by McDermott Will & Schulte LLP. A copy of the order is available here.