HII settles whistleblower suit

Huntington Ingalls Industries has agreed to pay $9.2 million to settle allegations of overbilling the U.S. government for work on Navy and Coast Guard ships at its Pascagoula, Miss., shipyard. HII did not admit to any wrongdoing. The civil complaint alleged HII-Pascagoula supervisors routinely shifted labor hours on billing records between government shipbuilding contracts. This "false time allocation" allegedly allowed HII to receive incentive payments for completing work on one hull under contractually-set number of man-hours. The suit was initially lodged by former Ingalls foreman, Bryon Faulkner of Jackson County, Miss., on behalf of the government, which is permitted under the False Claims Act. The government later joined the whistleblower suit as a plaintiff. Faulkner is to receive $1.6M of the $9.2M settlement for his assistance. (Source: Maritime Executive 08/15/17) HII-Pascagoula has built 35 Aegis DDG 51 class destroyers; LHA6 large deck amphibious ships, National Security Cutters for the Coast Guard, and is the sole builder of the Navy’s fleet of San Antonio (LPD 17) class of amphibious assault ships. There are 11, 500 employees at HII-Pascagoula. HII national headquarters spokesperson Beci Brenton said HII cooperated with the government and has strengthened compliance efforts.