Boeing wants $631 mil verdict dismissed

Boeing Co. asked a California judge to overturn part of a $631.1 million judgment against the company in a dispute with ICO Global Communications Holdings Ltd. over a failed agreement to build a satellite telecommunications network.

Boeing's lawyer, Brad Brian, at a hearing yesterday in Los Angeles Superior Court, argued that a jury's finding last year that the Boeing parent company was liable for interfering in a launch contract between ICO and Boeing Satellite Systems International Inc. and the jury's award of $177 million in punitive damages against the parent company should be thrown out as a matter of law.

"There's no evidence that Boeing had knowledge of the contractual obligations," Brian said. "To induce a breach of contract you need to have knowledge of the terms."

Superior Court Judge Emilie H. Elias didn't rule on Boeing's request. The Chicago-based company will argue five additional motions to overturn the jury verdict at hearings scheduled for Feb. 10 and 11.

ICO, based in Reston, Virginia, last year prevailed on its claims that Boeing unfairly demanded additional money to finish and launch the satellites, which ICO ordered to create mobile- phone connections to remote locations worldwide. ICO signed a contract in 1995 with Hughes Electronics Corp.'s satellite unit, a business Boeing acquired in 2000, to pay more than $2 billion to build and launch 12 satellites.

The case is Boeing Satellite Systems International Inc. v. ICO Global Communications (Operations) Ltd., BC320115, Superior Court of California (Los Angeles County).