by Ben Vernia | March 19th, 2018
On March 15, the Department of Justice announced that the manufacturer of fibers used in bulletproof vests had agreed to pay $66 million to resolve two lawsuits (one filed by a whistleblower) that the company had provided defective material. According to DOJ’s press release:
Toyobo Co. Ltd. of Japan and its American subsidiary, Toyobo U.S.A. Inc., f/k/a Toyobo America Inc. (collectively, Toyobo), have agreed to pay $66 million to resolve claims under the False Claims Act that they sold defective Zylon fiber used in bullet proof vests that the United States purchased for federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies, the Justice Department announced today.
The settlement resolves allegations that between at least 2001 and 2005, Toyobo, the sole manufacturer of Zylon fiber, knew that Zylon degraded quickly in normal heat and humidity, and that this degradation rendered bullet proof vests containing Zylon unfit for use. The United States further alleged that Toyobo nonetheless actively marketed Zylon fiber for bullet proof vests, published misleading degradation data that understated the degradation problem, and when Second Chance Body Armor recalled some of its Zylon-containing vests in late 2003, started a public relations campaign designed to influence other body armor manufacturers to keep selling Zylon-containing vests. According to the United States, Toyobo’s actions delayed by several years the government’s efforts to determine the true extent of Zylon degradation. Finally, in August 2005, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) completed a study of Zylon-containing vests and found that more than 50 percent of used vests could not stop bullets that they had been certified to stop. Thereafter, the NIJ decertified all Zylon-containing vests.
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This settlement is part of a larger investigation undertaken by the Civil Division of the body armor industry’s use of Zylon in body armor. The Civil Division previously recovered more than $66 million from 16 entities involved in the manufacture, distribution or sale of Zylon vests, including body armor manufacturers, weavers, international trading companies, and five individuals. The settlement announced today brings the Division’s overall recoveries to over $132 million. The United States still has lawsuits pending against Richard Davis, the former chief executive of Second Chance, and Honeywell International Inc.
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DOJ announced that the whistleblower, now a professor at Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste Marie, Michigan, will receive $5,775,000 (the relator’s share computation is complicated by the fact that Toyobo paid the settlement amount to resolve two separate suits).
