Honeywell Looks to Slip Big-Dollar Judgment Over Defective Vests

A panel of D.C. Circuit judges asked Honeywell International Inc. Wednesday why it should avoid paying damages to the government for allegedly supplying faulty body armor when supply chain partners have paid $36 million in False Claims Act settlements.

Honeywell contends that under a dollar-for-dollar offset approach known as pro tanto, the company couldn’t owe the government millions in trebled damages because the government has already recovered from the suppliers what it seeks over the alleged fraud.

The government says the right damages approach is “proportionate share,” which forces a bad actor to pay a fair amount of total damages ...