United Technologies Wins Reversal Of $657 Mln Award Over Engine Prices To Govt

(RTTNews) - United Technologies Corp. (UTX) Monday won reversal of a $657 million judgment, against the U.S. government over claims that the company's Pratt & Whitney unit overcharged the government on engines for F-15 and F-16 fighter jets for the military in competition made in 1983.

The U.S. Court of Appeals said the government did not prove damages from false statements Pratt is alleged to have made when it competed with GE Aircraft for a contract to supply engines for the jets.

Circuit Judge Jeffrey Sutton said, "The government had the burden of proving damages, and it never did."

The lawsuit was sent back to the trial judge to give the federal government another chance to prove its case. In June 2013, U.S. District Judge Thomas Rose in Dayton, Ohio, had awarded the government damages. The federal government had claimed six years of overcharging.