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Federal court OKs putting Boeing’s settlement deal with CPA under seal
The federal court has granted the request of two companies to seal their settlement deal with the Commonwealth Ports Authority in connection with CPA’s lawsuit against them over the alleged design and engineering defects in a Saipan International Airport project.
U.S. District Court for the NMI designated judge Kevin S.C. Chang ordered that the amended settlement agreement be placed under seal.
According to the conference’s minutes filed in court on Tuesday, Chang also ordered that the settlement conference in Boeing Company’s lawsuit against Leo A. Daly Company set for April 20, 2015, be moved to April 29, 2015.
Chang said the parties’ confidential settlement conference statements are due on April 22, 2015.
The Chicago-based Boeing Company and the Texas-based Boeing Service Company requested the court to seal their settlement deal with CPA last week.
The two companies, through counsel Sean E. Frink, said their deal with CPA should be sealed because it contains information protected from disclosure pursuant to third-party confidentiality restrictions.
Frink said both the CPA and Boeing are bound by the confidentiality provisions of the agreement.
The lawyer said the motion is being made because Boeing will be filing a motion to allow them to file a complaint against Leo A. Daly Company, or LAD.
Frink said that Boeing’s first amended complaint alleges that LAD’s design was ultimately the cause of the defects in the airport project.
Last August, U.S. District Court for the NMI designated Judge J. Michael Seabright dismissed CPA’s lawsuit against Boeing after the parties reached a settlement.
Seabright, however, ruled that Boeing’s lawsuit against LAD, which is also pending before the federal court, will continue.
CPA filed the lawsuit as a result of a series of problems related to an addition built to the Saipan International Airport.
Boeing had contracted with the CPA with respect to the project. Boeing subcontracted with others, LAD, which designed and managed construction for the project.
