Petaluma, Calif. – The San Francisco 9^thCircuit of Appeals will hear the American Small Business League's (ASBL)Freedom Of Information Act Request case against the Pentagon on December 14,2016. The trial is being held following the Pentagon's appeal to overturn theruling that they disclose Sikorsky Aviation Corporations most recentsubcontracting plan submitted to the Pentagon's Comprehensive SubcontractingPlan Test Program (CSPTP).

The ASBL originally won their Freedom ofInformation Act case against the Pentagon in November of 2014.Federal District Court Judge WilliamAlsup in San Francisco ordered the Pentagon torelease the Sikorsky data to the ASBL after reviewing theinformation and determining nothingin the report constituted as trade secret, proprietaryor confidential financial information.

In his ruling, Judge Alsup described the ASBLas being an underdog in a David and Goliath battle against the "big company" and against the "biggovernment." He also accused the Pentagon of "covering it up" inreference to the information the ASBL requested. In a subsequent hearing, JudgeAlsup accused the Pentagon and Sikorsky of trying to "suppress the evidence."

During the District Court case, Judge Alsupinstructed the Pentagon and Sikorsky on two separate occasions to "highlight the parts that are supposedlyconfidential" or that they believed wereproprietary and explain why they believed the information should be exempt. ThePentagon declined to comply with Judge Alsup's request.

The ASBL believes the CSPTP has allowed thePentagon's largest prime contractors to circumvent small businesssubcontracting goals by eliminating all transparency and penalties fornon-compliance. Professor CharlesTiefer, a leading expert on federal contractinglaw, agrees and has written a legal opinion callingthe CSPTP a "sham" and "seriouslyharmful" to small businesses.

The Pentagon and Sikorsky have now filedtwo separate appellant briefs. They are objecting to the release of the phonenumbers and email addresses of Sikorsky's employees along with the names ofSikorsky's small business subcontractors.  

"I believe the reason that the Pentagonand Sikorsky are fighting so hard to withhold this information is because itwill reveal that they are not only fabricating compliance with federal smallbusiness contracting goals, but awarding contracts to their own subsidiaries.Once we've won this case, we will seek restitution," stated ASBLPresident Lloyd Chapman.

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