Northrop Corp. v. General Motors Corp.

• Decision Date: 27 April 2004
• Docket Number: No. 49A02-0205-CV-428.,49A02-0205-CV-428.
• Citation: 807 N.E.2d 70
• Parties: NORTHROP CORPORATION, Northrop Aircraft Division, Appellant-Defendant, v. GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION and Allison Engine Company, Inc., Appellee-Plaintiffs.
• Court: Indiana Appellate Court

807 N.E.2d 70

NORTHROP CORPORATION, Northrop Aircraft Division, Appellant-Defendant, v. GENERAL MOTORS CORPORATION and Allison Engine Company, Inc., Appellee-Plaintiffs.

No. 49A02-0205-CV-428.

Court of Appeals of Indiana.

April 27, 2004.

George T. Patton, Jr., Andrew M. McNeil, Bryan H. Babb, Sandra H. Perry, Bose McKinney & Evans, LLP, Indianapolis, IN, Joseph F. Coyne, Paul S. Malingagio, Pro Hac Vice, Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP, Los Angeles, CA, Attorneys for Appellant.

Terrill D. Albright, Joseph H. Yeager, Jr., Baker & Daniels, Indianapolis, IN, John L. Rice, Scott E. Pickens, Pro Hac Vice, Pillsbury Winthrop LLP, Anthony J. Trenga, Pro Hac Vice, Miller & Chevalier, Chartered, Washington, DC, Attorneys for Appellees.

OPINION

DARDEN, Judge.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE¹

Northrop Corporation, Northrop Aircraft Division, n/k/a Northrop Grumman Corporation ("Northrop"), appeals the trial court's judgment in the amount of $67,669,492.05 in favor of General Motors Corporation and Allison Engine Company, Inc. ("Allison").

We affirm.

ISSUES

Northrop has raised three (3) main issues with approximately ten (10) sub-issues, which we consolidate, as follows:

1. Did the trial court commit reversible error when it denied Northrop's motion for judgment on the evidence?

2. Did the trial court commit reversible error in instructing the jury?

3. Did the trial court err by awarding Allison prejudgment interest?

FACTS

We commence this opinion by adopting the FACTS as outlined by another panel of this court in General Motors Corp. v. Northrop Corp., 685 N.E.2d 127, 130-132, (Ind. Ct.App.1997), trans. denied, as follows:

The facts of this case are extensive and complicated. This action began with the United States Air Force who, in 1986, chose Northrop and Lockheed Aircraft Company (Lockheed) to build the Air Force's new Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) aircraft. Both Lockheed and Northrop were to build two ATF prototypes. The ATFs and their design were to be analyzed by the Air Force, and the company whose aircraft was judged, overall, to be more satisfactory would be awarded all future ATF work. Simultaneously, the Air Force was holding a similar competition between General Electric Corporation (GE) and Pratt & Whitney (P & W) for design of the ATF's engines. Each company would also develop two engines, one to be installed in each of the two aircraft.

The design of Northrop's stealth aircraft was unique in that the aircraft's engines were embedded within the ATF's body. Utilizing this design, the engine's high-temperature exhaust, around 4000 degrees, would flow in a channel over the rear deck of the aircraft, thus reducing radar and infrared observability. A key to the success of the design was the development of an engine exhaust liner (EEL), which is an insulating structure that would allow the aircraft to withstand the heat produced by the ATF's engines.

In mid-1987, Northrop at first contracted with P & W and GE in order to do some design work on the EELs. However, Northrop subsequently felt that it may be better served subcontracting the EEL development work because the engine companies may have been too consumed with the engine competition. On August 17, 1987, Northrop issued requests for proposals (RFP) to Allison and Rohr Industries, Inc (Rohr). This request incorporated product function specification (PFS)² and statement of work (SOW)³ information about the liner environment and work to be performed developing the EEL. The RFP explained that the parties were to submit firm fixed prices for the development of the EEL and any questions regarding errors, ambiguities or inconsistencies in the RFP should be brought to Northrop's attention immediately. Northrop also provided Allison and Rohr with the PFS and SOW. None of the documents included any pressure/shock data nor did either company note the need for such data. Allison and Rohr had nine days to review the data and submit a proposal.

Rohr submitted a proposal to Northrop priced at $4 million, and Allison submitted a proposal priced at over $13 million. Northrop evaluated the two proposals and accepted the Allison bid, finding that Rohr's proposal was "technically unacceptable." Record at 7085. The Rohr proposal called for a liner weighing 308 pounds, which was over twice the weight of the liner proposed by Allison.

Northrop and Allison entered into negotiations for development of the EEL. Although Allison had originally proposed a contract with a repricing option, it agreed to develop the EEL at a firm fixed price, regardless of which final design was chosen for the EEL. The contract between Northrop and Allison also contained numerous provisions requiring Allison to provide notice to Northrop of any changes in the scope of the work. The most significant of these provisions incorporated Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 52.24[3]-7, a notification of changes requirement, into the contract.

Allison asserts that Northrop was in the best position to accurately predict the engine exhaust conditions that the liner would have to meet and that Northrop had generated voluminous test data regarding those test conditions which was unavailable to Allison. Allison also asserts that the information which Northrop provided was incomplete and misleading. In fact, according to Allison, Northrop had conducted years of simulations and tests in conjunction with the government, generating extensive data critical to the design and pricing of the EEL. However, Allison claims that when it described an original plan for design of the liner to Northrop in August of 1987, albeit before Allison submitted a bid for the project, Northrop did not inform Allison that it had test data indicating that Allison's perception of the liner environment was wrong.

On October 29, 1987, Allison personnel attended a meeting with GE representatives to discuss the EEL. A GE engineer showed Allison a chart which appeared to be based upon Northrop test data. The chart indicated to Allison that the liner environment would be significantly different than had been indicated by Northrop, and Allison engineers knew that the information would force Allison to develop a heavier and more expensive liner design.

After seeing the chart, Allison immediately asked Northrop for all of the relevant data, emphasizing the importance of the information and the fact that this was a potentially catastrophic situation. Northrop responded a few days later by providing Allison with a few charts, but they contained only a fraction of the information which Allison required. The new information, however, did indicate that Northrop's original specifications were in error and that the GE chart was accurate. Allison continued to pressure Northrop for information, and its understanding of the EEL environment gradually increased. Finally, Allison began to develop a new liner concept, known as a honeycomb-tile design, in order to accommodate the newly-discovered environment. Never, however, did Allison provide Northrop with a written notification of changes in the scope of the contract as required by FAR 52.24[3]-7.

Northrop asserts that the charts which Allison saw at GE were not significant to Allison because of the fact that they showed the pressure levels that the EEL would experience but that the charts indicated that the EEL might be operated in over expanded or under expanded conditions. According to Northrop, Allison believed that this expansion could cause high pressure/shock levels in excess of those that Allison had assumed based upon P & W data. Northrop further asserts that Rohr's engineers, as well as the P & W engineers with whom Allison met, testified that they knew that the ATF engines would operate in such conditions. Finally, Northrop asserts that all supersonic jet engines operate in over and under expanded conditions and therefore have pressure/shock levels in the engine exhaust stream.

This suit ensued in September of 1991. On June 20, 1995, the trial court entered the first of many entries on Northrop's various motions for summary judgment.

* * * * * *

Id. at 130-32 (original footnotes omitted) (footnotes 2 and 3 added).

Reviewing the trial court's grant of summary judgment, we held

that the trial court erroneously granted summary judgment as to counts three [superior knowledge], four [changes in the scope of work], and six [defective specifications]. Both count three and count six allege causes of action which under California law may be brought against private defendants. The trial court also erred in determining that the FAR provision is inoperable without written notice.

Id. at 142.

We also determined that federal law would apply to the specialized terms of the contracts as set out in the FARs, and that California law would control the resolution of the common law causes of action. Id. at 134-35.

Pursuant to remand, a thirty-day jury trial began on January 22, 2002 in the Marion County Superior Court on the remaining issues. After weighing the evidence, the jury returned verdicts for Allison on all counts related to the EEL and the Trailing Edge (TE)⁴ in the amount of $25,850,434 and $5,427,862, respectively. Thereafter, the trial court, pursuant to California Code § 3287(a), awarded Allison prejudgment interest in the amount of $36,391,196.05. The trial court determined that, alternatively, under California Code § 3287(b), it could have awarded prejudgment interest in the amount of $33,266,396.80.

During the course of the trial, the jury heard testimony from dozens of witnesses and reviewed hundreds of pages of documentary exhibits. All issues were vigorously contested between Allison and Northrop. Virtually all of the FACTS as found in General Motors Corp., supra, were presented to the jury during the course of the trial. The ensuing additional facts and evidence were presented to the jury before arriving at its verdict.

The jury heard evidence that the determination of...