Judge reinstates F-35 whistleblower suit

Federal Judge Terry Means issued an order Monday reversing an earlier decision that dismissed a whistle-blower lawsuit against Lockheed Martin that alleged the company was not writing software for the F-35 joint strike fighter to the highest industry and government standards.

After further review, prompted by an appeal by former Lockheed software engineer, Means ruled that his earlier decision to dismiss the case "was erroneous and would result in injustice" to Davis. The decision only applies to the portion of the lawsuit where Davis questions the legality of Lockheed billing the government for work on the F-35 that did not meet quality and safety requirements.

In the earlier ruling Means, sided with Lockheed lawyers, who argued that the case should be dismissed because Davis failed to present evidence of specific acts of Lockheed or its employees making false claims.

Davis lawyer, Sam Boyd of Dallas, said in a statement:"We are pleased with the Court’s ruling. We look forward to working through the issues with all parties and counsel. If we win, the United States wins, and that is our goal."

Under the law, a person filing a false claim act that results in a decision and settlement favoring the government is entitled to receive a share of that settlement.

Here is a copy of the judge's ruling: Download 11-15-10 ruling reinstating suit.

- Bob Cox

Comments

[Smitty77]

We are going to get screwed!!

[Dr. Janet Parker DVM]

Passage of the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act must be a priority for the lame duck session of Congress.

We are facing a looming crisis because we have not heeded the warnings from our federal whistleblowers. Right now we need to enact strong enact strong legislation to protect federal whistleblowers. Protecting whistleblowers is a reform that has strong bilateral support across ideological lines. Federal employees, the foot soldiers in the war on waste, fraud and abuse, need to get the protections they deserve. They must be able to fight back when they are fired, harassed or demoted in retaliation for their efforts to protect the public health and safety and taxpayer dollars.

http://www.change.org/medicalwhistleblower/petitions/view/enact_whistleblower_protection_now

Join Medical Whistleblower Advocacy Network:
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