128 P.3d 1057 (2006) Lane SIMONIAN, Appellant, v. The UNIVERSITY AND COMMUNITY COLLEGE SYSTEM OF NEVADA, Respondent. No. 39292. Supreme Court of Nevada. February 23, 2006. *1058 Lane Simonian, Reno, in Proper Person. Mary Phelps Dugan, Associate General Counsel, Reno, for Respondent. Before ROSE, C.J., DOUGLAS and PARRAGUIRRE, JJ. OPINION PER CURIAM. In this proper person appeal, we determine whether the district court properly granted summary judgment to the University and Community College System of Nevada (UCCSN) because, as a state entity, UCCSN is not subject to liability under Nevada's False Claims Act (FCA).[1] We also consider whether sanctions may be imposed on a complainant for having filed an FCA action based on allegations that, in the context of an administrative retaliation proceeding, were previously found meritless. We agree with the district court that UCCSN is a state entity and therefore not subject to FCA liability. Accordingly, we affirm the district court's summary judgment. We further conclude, however, that the district court's award of attorney fees as a sanction for having asserted a meritless claim is unsupportable under the circumstances. Thus, we reverse the portion of the order awarding UCCSN attorney fees. FACTS Appellant Lane Simonian was a part-time instructor for Truckee Meadows Community College for several years. As a result of concerns that surfaced during his employment, Simonian instituted proceedings against respondent UCCSN on four notable occasions. First, in 1999, Simonian filed a district court petition for extraordinary relief, challenging UCCSN's alleged refusal to pay part-time instructors the entire salary amounts for which legislative appropriations had been made. Within a few months of petitioning the court and before any response had been filed, however, Simonian voluntarily dismissed the petition. Second, that same year, Simonian requested a hearing with the Nevada Department of Personnel under NRS 281.641, which governs reprisals and retaliatory actions taken against state officer or employee whistleblowers.[2] In his request, Simonian asserted that he had sent letters to certain individuals and agencies, alleging that UCCSN had misappropriated state funds by submitting incorrect part-time instructor salaries in budget requests to the Legislature. Consequently, Simonian claimed, the community college retaliated against him by refusing to renew his teaching contract. After reviewing the matter, a hearing officer found that Simonian had not proven his retaliation claim, in part because Simonian had not demonstrated success on the merits of his underlying misappropriation allegations, and without so doing, he could not succeed on a claim for retaliation. Third, the following year, Simonian filed a second NRS 281.641 request, this time alleging that he had been retaliated against when he was dismissed as a part-time lecturer earlier that year. Simonian claimed that the dismissal resulted from his public complaints *1059 about "the false reporting of average new full-time instructors' salaries." The request was dismissed as untimely. Finally, in 2001, Simonian instituted a false claims action against UCCSN. As a basis for relief, Simonian asserted that between 1987 and 2001, UCCSN had "presented to the Nevada State Legislature claims for $16 million in unpaid …
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