Not-Quite-Bulletproof Vest Maker Settles Suit

Knowingly manufacturing and selling defective bulletproof vests to police officers and others has got to be a low in the annals of corporate misdeeds. And today the Justice Department extracted $30 million from the company it said was one of the wrongdoers -- Armor Holdings Products LLC.

The government alleged that Armor Holdings sold the vests, made of Zylon, despite having information that the material degraded rapidly, especially when exposed to light, heat and humidity.

Armor sold the vests not only to the federal government, but also to local, state, and tribal law enforcement agencies -- all of which received some reimbursement under the Justice Department's Bulletproof Vest Partnership program.

Armor is part of BAE Systems, Britain's largest defense contractor and the fourth-largest weapons maker n the United States. The company has its own problems. Last year, U.S. prosecutors announced that they were investigating whether the company violated anti-corruption laws in deals it made with a Saudi Arabian prince, allegedly to secure an $80 billion arms deal.

The settlement on the vests came after three other manufacturers, including Hexcel Corp., of Stamford, Conn., settled with the government which has an ongoing investigation into the defective vests. A year ago, Hexcel agreed to pay $15 million to resolve the federal inquiry into its role in making and selling defective Zylon vests.

That company -- and others along with Armor -- made vests with woven Zylon fiber or with a Zylon laminate inserts called Z Shield which was made by Toyobo Co. Ltd.

In July 2007, the U.S. government sued Toyobo for making and selling Zylon to American-based body armor manufacturers.

The Z Shield insert is manufactured by Honeywell Corp. -- which the federal government also sued last July for making and selling Z Shield to Armor Holdings.

Also indicted last year was the founder, David H. Brooks, of DHB Industries, which sold some 23,000 Point Blank vests to the Army and the Marines -- vests that were later recalled after Army personnel flagged them as having "critical, life-threatening flaws."

The company replaced the vests.

In announcing today's settlement, the Gregory G. Katsas, the Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Civil Division, said: "The Justice Department will not tolerate its first responders wearing defective bulletproof vests. This settlement will help ensure that first responders receive the highest quality ballistic protection."

by Elizabeth Olson

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