COUPLE'S ROMANTIC

AFFAIR LEADS TO

$1 BILLION LAWSUIT BY

BETHESDA CONTRACTOR

Downtown Bethesda Firm Alleges

Improper Relationship Cost Them

Longtime FAA Contract

A forbidden romance. Corporate espionage. A showdown in D.C. Superior Court.

Is this a movie coming to cineplexes this weekend?

No! It's a true story centering around a downtown Bethesda company(!!).

Washington Consulting Group, headquartered at 4915 Auburn Avenue right here in Bethesda, is an aviation contractor that once held a valuable Federal Aviation Administration contract. Until a romantically-involved couple at defense giant Raytheon and the FAA (respectively) caused them to lose it, WCG alleges in a $1 billion lawsuit.

The upshot of the story is this:

FAA employee Charles Keegan began a romantic relationship with a subordinate, Maureen Knopes. Keegan left the FAA for a job at Raytheon. Knopes used her position to steer a lucrative air traffic controller training contract - previously WCG's for twenty years - to Raytheon. All of this is alleged in WCG's lawsuit, Washington Consulting Group, Inc. v. Raytheon Technical Services Co., LLC.

On Monday, the DC Superior Court judge ordered Keegan to pay some of WCG's legal fees, because he had failed to turn over a Raytheon letter of reprimand which referred to the affair. But WCG has not yet been able to prevail in its quest for $1 billion in damages.

$1 billion!

And you thought Valentine's Day could get expensive...