Defense Industry
The federal government spends billions contracting military equipment from the defense industry. However, some military manufacturers sell defective military equipment to the federal government, a violation of the False Claims Act. Defective military equipment wastes taxpayer money, reduces the ability of the U.S. military to protect America and puts service men and women in harms way. Whistleblowers bring these dangerous violations to the attention of the federal government.
In 1995, an employee of TRW Inc. discovered that it sold defective satellite parts to the U.S. Air Force. The employee reported his discovery to TRW who then suppressed the report. The employee sued TRW’s parent company, Northrup Grumman, under the False Claims Act. In 2009, the company paid a $325 million settlement to the government, with $48.7 million of it awarded to the employee.