Fluor Settles Hanford Lawsuit; Denies Any Wrongdoing
Fluor Settles Hanford Lawsuit; Denies Any Wrongdoing
IRVING, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Today, Fluor Corporation (NYS: FLR) settled a lawsuit brought by a qui tam relator under the False Claims Act arising from Fluor's management of the Hazardous Materials Management and Emergency Response (HAMMER) facility. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) commissioned HAMMER for the training of emergency first responders. Fluor Hanford, Inc., a Fluor subsidiary, managed the HAMMER facility under a 1996 - 2009 DOE contract. The lawsuit alleged that Fluor improperly billed the Department for costs incurred to market the HAMMER facility for training of other government agencies.
Fluor maintains that the Company did nothing wrong nor unlawful: no false claims were submitted to the government and no lobbying or other laws were violated. To the contrary, Fluor Hanford's contract with the Department of Energy obligated the Company to encourage other government agencies to use the HAMMER facility to "increase economies of scale and promote more cost-effective operation and maintenance" and to promote HAMMER's use by these additional agencies to reduce the facility's funding requirements (thereby reducing costs to taxpayers). Fluor was prepared to prove that the use of consultants to contact other government agencies to market the HAMMER facility was fully known to and overseen by ranking Department of Energy officials, who themselves were involved in meetings and communications with the consultants, and other government agencies, and that there was nothing improper about these marketing efforts by either DOE or Fluor.
Fluor takes pride in the fact that the company is well regarded in both government and commercial contracting for its leadership stance on ethical business conduct. Although Fluor strongly disagrees with the lawsuit's allegations and the government's position in this matter (and Fluor specifically denies any illegal or improper conduct in the settlement agreement), Fluor's management nevertheless elected to accept the government's proposed settlement of this case for the payment of $1.1 million, in the belief that the avoidance of the expense and distraction of litigation is in the Company's best interests.
About Fluor Corporation
For more than 100 years, Fluor Corporation (NYS: FLR) has partnered with its clients to design, build and maintain many of the world's most challenging and complex capital projects. Through its global network of offices on six continents, more than 40,000 employees provide comprehensive capabilities and world-class expertise in the fields of engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, fabrication, operations, maintenance and project management. Today, the company serves a global client base in the energy, chemicals, government, industrial, infrastructure, operations & maintenance, manufacturing & life sciences, mining, power and transportation sectors. Headquartered in Irving, Texas, Fluor ranks 124 on the FORTUNE 500 list and had revenue of $27.6 billion in 2012. For more information, visit www.fluor.com.
Fluor Corporation
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Keith Stephens, 469-398-7624
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Brian Mershon, 469-398-7621
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Jason Landkamer, 469-398-7222
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