A federal judge dismissed claims against Boeing.

District Judge Claude Hilton dismissed the Justice Department’s civil claims against Boeing Co. and five former executives who were awarded severance payments totaling $485,000 when they moved to high-ranking Defense Department jobs. The department had charged that the payments created “a conflict-of-interest situation” and shouldn’t have been billed to the government by the defense contractor as part of its normal business costs. Hilton ruled that the severance payments were in line with Boeing’s standard practice for executives who left the company for public service. No allegation was made that any of the men acted improperly in their Defense posts in any way that could have benefited Boeing.