Jacobs Engineering Settles ‘Whistle-Blower’ Suit

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. will pay $35 million to settle a lawsuit that claimed the Pasadena firm improperly billed the U.S. government on contracts involving mostly environmental cleanup, the U.S. attorney said. The suit claimed Jacobs made unallowable charges on cost reimbursement contracts with the military, Energy Department, Environmental Protection Agency and NASA. Although it settled, Jacobs denies the allegations. The action was filed under seal in 1997 as a “whistle-blower” suit by former Jacobs worker Edwin Bond. The U.S. attorney’s office later joined the suit. The settlement was approved last week by U.S. District Judge Harry L. Hupp.