WASHINGTON, Oct. 30, 2017
/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Stunning information revealed during
depositions in a four year long Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) battle led the Department of Justice (DOJ) to
largely abandon defending the Department of Defense (DOD) against a lawsuit
seeking information about Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation's (Sikorsky) small
business subcontracts. A key assertion by Sikorsky that releasing
materials it filed with DOD would reveal trade secrets is unsupportable, DOJ
apparently determined. Accordingly, DOJ notified the Court and
co-defendant Sikorsky on October 12 that DOD
intends to release most of the requested information on November
6. The December 11 trial has been
postponed.
The American Small Business League (ASBL)
initially sought Sikorsky's small business subcontracting plan in an August 2013 Freedom of Information Act filing. When
DOD refused, Sonoma, CA
based ASBL filed suit in the U.S. District Court in San
Francisco in 2014. In an early hearing, Judge
William Alsup on November
6, 2014 said: "The purpose of the Freedom of
Information Act is so the public can see how our government works. Congress
passed this law to make small businesses have access to some of these projects,
and here is the United States covering it up."
"We whole-heartedly agreed with Judge Alsup then and now
welcome the unraveling of that cover-up," said Lloyd
Chapman, ASBL's president. "We believe the covered-up
information will help expose the fact that the Pentagon and its largest prime
contractors have used the Comprehensive Subcontract Plan Test
Program to cheat small business out of hundreds of billions in subcontracts
since the program began in 1989."
"Some of the information we seek had actually been posted
on government web sites and issued in press releases by Sikorsky,"
explained Jonathan W. Cuneo, partner of Washington, DC-based Cuneo Gilbert & LaDuca, LLP, representing
ASBL. "The defendants hid behind a spurious trade secrets claim for
four years. Ironically, this case involves information with no national
security sensitivity about a single source, non-competitive Defense Department
contract."
Among facts undermining Sikorsky's trade secrets defense is an expert report by former FAA official
David Downey who said information about Sikorsky's
subcontractors is "widely" available in the industry.
For the full story, click here: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cuneo-gilbert--laduca-llp-doj-retreats-on-defense-of-pentagon-sikorsky-case-in-upcoming-trial-300545226.html
