The U.S. government asserted that protective vests were defective.
By Mark Basch
The Times-Union
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. —Armor Holdings Products LLC has agreed to pay $30 million to the government to resolve allegations that the company sold bulletproof vests containing a possibly defective material, the U.S. Justice Department said Tuesday.
The allegations stem from a 2005 Justice Department study that found vests containing Zylon fibers could degrade over time. The settlement with Armor Holdings is part of a larger investigation into the use of Zylon in the body armor industry. Three other companies have already settled with the Justice Department and paid more than $16 million.
Armor Holdings was based in Jacksonville before being sold last year to London-based BAE Systems Plc. The Armor Holdings Products unit still has a facility in Jacksonville that makes bulletproof vests and other law enforcement products.
Armor stopped making vests with Zylon in 2005 after the study and began allowing law enforcement offices to exchange Zylon vests for other vests with different material. The company said it has replaced more than 50,000 Zylon vests over the past few years.
Armor denied allegations of wrongdoing, but said in a news release that it agreed to the settlement to avoid litigation expense and uncertainty.
“We stand behind the quality guarantees for our body armor products and have and will continue to take appropriate action when their quality does not meet our own very high standards,” Armor Holdings Products President Scott O’Brien said in the release.
Copyright 2008 The Florida Times-Union