A settlement has been reached in a whistleblower class action lawsuit brought against an Alcatel-Lucent subsidiary, Lucent Technologies World Services Inc (LTWSI), who is accused of submitting misleading testing certifications to the Army in connection with the design, construction and modernization of Iraq’s emergency communications system.
The whistleblower will receive a $758,000 share of the settlement.
The initial whistleblower case was filed December 2008. In March 2004, the U.S. Army awarded LTWSI a $250 million contract to build the Advanced First Responder Network (AFRN), a 911 emergency response and first responder communications system designed to enable Iraqis to summon police, fire and medical assistance in emergencies. The United States alleged that LTWSI submitted claims for payment for equipment, services and contract performance award fees under the AFRN contract based upon inaccurate certifications that LTWSI, between January and July 2005, had performed and successfully completed certain testing of AFRN radio transmission sites, as well as validation of the network as a whole, to ensure the network’s proper operation prior to acceptance by the United States and transfer to the Iraqi government.
