Defense Department attorneys won anappeals court decision on Jan. 6 that denies a demand from a small businessadvocacy group that Sikorsky Aviation Corp. be required to disclose itssubcontracting plan submitted under a long-standing Pentagon program.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9^thCircuit ruledagainst the Petaluma, Calif.-based American Small Business League, sayingthat forcing the helicopter maker to disclose its subcontracting plan would putit at a competitive disadvantage.

Small business booster Lloyd Chapman haslong challenged the Pentagon's 27-year-old Comprehensive Subcontracting Plan Test Program asnonproductive and oriented mostly toward obfuscating the degree to which largecontractors win defense business intended for smaller ones. 

 "By seeking disclosure of SikorskyAviation Corporation's participation in the CSPTP, the ASBL sought toreveal evidence that the program allowed the Pentagon's largest primecontractors to circumvent small business subcontracting goals without penalty,costing small businesses trillions of dollars," the league said in a statementfollowing the ruling.

A districtcourt judge in 2014 had sided with Chapman, scolding Defense Departmentattorneys for disclosing only partial information on subcontracting plans. Thedistrict court had ordered the Pentagon to release Sikorsky's data, saying itdid not contain trade secrets or proprietary or confidential financialinformation.

None of the information was released,however, and now the appeals court found that the lower court "erred inholding that none of the information currently redacted from the plan isprotected" under exemption 4 of the Freedom of Information Act. That exemptionassures companies doing business with the government that their "trade secretsor financial information [that is] privileged or confidential will not berevealed to third parties," the appeals judges wrote.

Sikorsky spokesman Paul Jacksontold Government Executive: "We appreciate and agree with the 9^th CircuitCourt's thoughtful opinion."

League president Chapman plans anappeal.

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http://www.govexec.com/contracting/2017/01/pentagon-wins-court-round-disclosing-sikorsky-subcontracting-plans/134472/