A seemingly divided U.S. Supreme Court will decide early next year whether a Rocky Flats whistle-blower can share in a federal jury award against a contractor accused of wrongdoing at the former nuclear- weapons plant.
Justices on Tuesday heard arguments in a case that began in 1989 when Colorado engineer James Stone filed a civil lawsuit claiming that a Rocky Flats contractor, Rockwell International Corp., lied to the federal government about its handling of waste at the now-demolished trigger plant north of Golden.
Stone sued under the Federal Claims Act, which requires whistle-blowers seeking compensation to be the “original source” of information leading to a jury verdict. The Energy Department joined the lawsuit.
In 1999, a federal court ruled Stone was entitled to a third of the $4.2 million award against Rockwell. An appeals court agreed, causing Rockwell – now owned by the Boeing Co. – to appeal to the Supreme Court.
At Tuesday’s Supreme Court session, Rockwell attorney Maureen E. Mahoney argued that Stone could not be an “original source” because the jury award centered on contaminated water leaking through concrete, while Stone’s complaint focused on defective pipes at Rocky Flats.
Stone’s attorney, Maria Vullo, countered that her client exposed general architectural flaws at Rocky Flats and a pattern of misconduct by Rockwell relevant to the final verdict.
Initially, a majority of justices appeared skeptical of Rockwell’s argument, saying the purpose of the act was to prevent fraud by the government.
“If he (Stone) makes an allegation and the government investigates it, he gets no credit for that?” asked Chief Justice John Roberts.
Yet Roberts and Justice Antonin Scalia, who dominated much of the questioning, joined the court’s conservative members in castigating Vullo’s argument.
“How is it possible to say that he (Stone) had direct knowledge of events that occurred after he left Rockwell?” Scalia said.
A decision in the case, Rockwell International Corp vs. United States, is expected in the spring.
