United States of America, Ex Rel., Leocadio Barajas, Stephen C. Reddy, and the Law Offices of Herbert Hafif v. Northrop Corporation

26 F.3d 135 NOTICE: Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3 provides that dispositions other than opinions or orders designated for publication are not precedential and should not be cited except when relevant under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, or collateral estoppel. UNITED STATES of America, ex rel., Leocadio BARAJAS, Plaintiff-Appellant, Stephen C. Reddy, and the Law Offices of Herbert Hafif, Appellant, v. NORTHROP CORPORATION, Defendant-Appellee. No. 92-56390. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted April 15, 1994. Decided June 2, 1994. As Amended Aug. 3, 1994. Before: HUG, WIGGINS and NOONAN, Circuit Judges. 1 MEMORANDUM * FACTS 2 Barajas was employed by Northrop Corporation. Northrop built Flight Data Transmitters ("FDTs") for the U.S. Air Force. By contract, the FDTs were to operate at -65?F. Northrop was to conduct performance tests. In early 1987, Barajas informed the government that Northrop was falsifying the tests and that the FDTs sometimes did not work at "sub-zero temperatures." 3 Barajas also filed a qui tam complaint in 1987, alleging that tests were falsified and that the FDTs were defective. The United States joined only in…