The state of Oregon, U.S, has sued Oracle America Inc. and six of its top executives on Friday. Reason for the lawsuit is their failing to deliver a working website for the Affordable Care Act program, also known as Obamacare. Oregon had paid Oracle around $240 million dollars for a system that never worked.
A 126 page long lawsuit was filed in Marion Country Circuit Court claiming that fraud, lying and “a pattern of racketeering” by Oracle cost the state and its Cover Oregon program hundreds of millions of dollars. “Not only were Oracle’s claims lies, Oracle’s work was abysmal,” the lawsuit said.
In a statement issued from Oracle, it reads “the lawsuit is a desperate attempt to deflect blame from Cover Oregon and the governor for their failures to manage a complex IT project. The complaint is a fictional account of the Oregon Healthcare Project.” Oracle plans to fight the lawsuit and is confident that they will win both in this lawsuit and the one filed 2 weeks ago in the federal court.
Oregon was initially enthusiastic about the federal healthcare plan and their own Cover Oregon and quickly engaged in television commercials and print ads in advance of the rollout. But the Oracle-built site never worked and Oregonians were forced to submit paper applications in a hastily-organized process. In April Oregon moved to an exchange run by the federal government.
The original whistle-blower on this told the state that Oracle “planned … a behind the scenes effort” to keep the state from hiring an outside systems integrator who would oversee the project. The suit asks Oracle to pay for Cover Oregon’s financial losses, plus penalties for damages.
Thank you Reuters for providing us with this information.
Image and video courtesy of Oracle.
