Dr. Aaron Westrick

U.S. whistleblower Dr. Aaron Westrick used the False Claims Act’s whistleblower law to trigger a government investigation into major safety violations and fraud committed by two leading Japanese companies: Toyobo and Itochu, along with other non-U.S. companies.

Toyobo manufactured and Itochu exported a fiber known as Zylon worldwide. Zylon’s primary end-user were police departments, who used Zylon as the principle protective material for bullet proof vests. Toyobo and Itochu claimed that Zylon was a superior product, stronger then the well-established material (Kevler).

However, laboratory tests and field inspections began to demonstrate that Zylon was a corrupted material, subject to life-threatening degradation, placing police officers’ lives in danger. In the face of growing safety-related concerns Toyobo did not stop selling the materials. Instead it offered kickbacks to induce companies to continue to sell body armor using the defective material.

As a corporate insider, Aaron Westrick, the director of research for a leading body armor company, collected documentary proof confirming that Zylon was unsafe. He also obtained evidence that Toyobo had agreed to pay Westrick’s company millions in kickbacks to continue to market and sell the defective vests to police departments.

Unfortunately, as feared, Zylon started to fail. In the United States a bullet penetrated two vests, resulting in one officer’s permanent disability, and another police officer to die in the line of duty.

Dr. Westrick was able to successfully use the False Claims Act to hold Toyobo, Itochu, and other non-U.S. companies accountable, resulting in a number of multi-million dollar settlements and the removal of Zylon vests from the market.

Toyobo paid the largest fine, $66 million, to settle the Westrick-initated False Claims/qui tam lawsuit. From this case alone Westrick obtained an award of $5.7 million award. Itochu was sued under both the federal and State of California False Claims Acts. Itochu settled with the Justice Department for $6.75 million, and a California court upheld a state-based California FCA lawsuit against Itochu, filed by Westrick.

Other non-U.S. companies forced to settle cases under the federal False Claims Act for their participation in the in the Toyobo-Zylon scandal included:

• Lincoln Fabrics Ltd., a Canadian weaver of ballistic fabrics, paid $4 million;
• Armour Holdings Products, a unit of the UK BAE Systems, paid $30 million;
• Barrday, an Ontario based weaving company paid $1 million; and
• N.I. Teijin Shoji Co. Ltd.,a Japanesse importer, paid $1.5 million.

Dr. Westrick’s role as the whistleblower who first reported this scandal, and whose actions saved lives, was acknowledged in the 2018 Whistleblower Day Celebration held at the U.S. Capitol.

U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, the Chairman of the Senate Whistleblower Protection Caucus, and currently serving as the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary committee, recounted Dr. Westrick’s incredible impact during his keynote address:

“Because of his remarkable courage, the product was pulled from the market, and no doubt countless lives saved. But think about it this: what if his company had listened to him in the first place? Times would have turned out very differently for the two brave officers whose vests failed them.”