A federal judge in New York has revived a $2.3 billion whistleblower lawsuit aimed at Hawker Beechcraft Corp., reversing a bankruptcy court decision that blocked litigation over allegedly defective parts used in planes sold to the U.S. government, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Judge P. Kevin Castel said former employees of a Hawker Beechcraft subcontractor should get a chance to press their federal False Claims Act case against the manufacturer of military aircraft, which filed for chapter 11 protection in May 2012, emerged in 2013, and was sold to Textron Inc. just weeks ago. The decision, which was issued last week, restores the right of Beechcraft whistleblowers to argue in bankruptcy court that they are entitled to attempt to collect damages on behalf of the government for the alleged fraud, despite the confirmed chapter 11 bankruptcy exit plan.
