Lockheed to pay $2M in whistleblower lawsuit

HANCOCK COUNTY — Lockheed Martin Inc. has agreed to pay $2 million as part of a whistleblower lawsuit that accused several companies and individuals of rigging a contract at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, the U.S. Justice Department said Monday.

The 2009 lawsuit, filed in federal court in Mississippi, claimed three current or former federal employees conspired to steer a computer contract to a team of companies that included Lockheed, which is based in Bethesda, Md., San Diego-based Science Applications International Corp. and Applied Enterprise Solutions, based in Slidell, La.

Stephen Adamec and Robert Knesel, a former director and a deputy director of the Naval Oceanographic Major Shared Resource Center at Stennis, provided secret information about the bidding process, the Justice Department said in a news release.

Applied Enterprise Solutions was run by Haskin Dale Galloway, a former federal employee, who the Justice Department said conspired with the others to steer the contract to Science Applications International.

The Justice Department said Science Applications International got a $115-million contract and Lockheed’s portion was $2 million through a subcontract.

The whistleblower, government employee David Magee, will receive $560,000 for his role in bringing the case to the attention of authorities, the Justice Department added.

A Lockheed Martin spokesperson, in an emailed statement late Monday, maintained that the company “engaged in no wrongdoing.”