by Ben Vernia | September 29th, 2023
On September 28, the Department of Justice announced that Boeing had agreed to pay $8.1 million to settle three whistleblowers’ allegations that the company failed to meet quality control requirements in connect with the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft. According to DOJ’s press release:
The Boeing Company, headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, has agreed to pay $8,100,000 to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by submitting false claims and making false statements in connection with contracts with the U.S. Navy to manufacture the V-22 Osprey, a tiltrotor military aircraft.
The settlement announced today resolves allegations that from approximately 2007 through 2018, Boeing failed to comply with certain contractual manufacturing specifications in fabricating composite components for the V-22 at its facility in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania. Specifically, the government contends that Boeing failed to perform required monthly testing on autoclaves used in the composite cure process and was not in compliance with additional requirements related to the testing.
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The three relators, former Boeing employees, will share $1,539,000 of the settlement (a 19% relators’ share).