THE US DEPARTMENT of Justice has taken over a "whistleblower" lawsuit, which alleges that McDonnell Douglas (MDC) routinely mischarged labour costs on US Department of Defense aircraft contracts. MDC says that the charges "...are totally without merit".
The suit was filed in 1993 by a sacked MDC employee. The Justice Department says that it decided to enter the case when a review showed that MDC allegedly defrauded the US Government by routinely mischarging labour costs on various programmes, including the cancelled A-12 attack aircraft and C-17 military transport, "from at least 1989 through 1995".
The employee, "...terminated for cause" in 1993, says MDC, alleges that supervisors authorised employees to shift costs from programmes which were over budget to those which were under budget, by charging their labour costs incurred on one contract to work-orders on another.
The manufacturer says that it regrets that the US Government "...did not use the opportunity to discuss and resolve these matters before proceeding".
Source: Flight International
