The Boeing Company, Successor to Mcdonnell Douglas Corporation, Petitioner v. United States

Questions presented

SCOTUS records, cert granted 28 Sep 2010

1. Whether the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment permits an appellate court to adopt a new legal rule, inconsistent with its own prior ruling in the same case, and then apply it retroactively to the record established in the trial court pursuant to the prior ruling, without remanding to afford the parties the opportunity to prove their case under the new rule.
2. Whether the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment permits the Government to maintain a claim while simultaneously asserting the state secrets privilege to bar presentation of a prima facie valid defense to that claim.
3. Whether the Government may terminate a government contract for default on the ground that a contractor has failed to make adequate progress toward timely completion of that contract where the Government has not set a valid deadline for completing the contract.

Opinion summary

Etalia.ai summary of the majority opinion

The case involved The Boeing Company, as the successor to McDonnell Douglas Corporation, challenging a decision related to government contract cost accounting. The dispute centered around whether certain costs incurred by Boeing were allowable under federal contracts with the United States government. Specifically, it dealt with how independent research and development (IR&D) expenses should be treated for reimbursement purposes under these contracts. Boeing argued that its interpretation of the relevant regulations justified their claimed costs as reimbursable IR&D expenses. However, lower courts had ruled against Boeing's position, leading them to seek review from the Supreme Court in hopes of overturning those decisions.