AEROSPACE

Pentagon Rejects Rockwell’s Request for Legal Fees: The Defense Department has refused to reimburse Seal Beach-based Rockwell International Corp. for $1.2 million the contractor spent defending itself in a stockholder lawsuit, a magazine reported. What made the longstanding request ironic was that the shareholders suit arose from a 1989 case in which the Pentagon itself fined Rockwell $5.5 million for defrauding the Air Force on a satellite contract, according to the article in Defense Week. Pentagon regulations prohibit contractors from being repaid for legal fees incurred in a federal fraud case, but they do allow companies to seek reimbursement for the legal costs resulting from a shareholder lawsuit, even if it is a result of the same problem.