Dr. Aaron Westrick, the eminent Research Director of Second Chance Body Armor, beheld the disquieting spectacle of body armour deterioration in 2001.
The culprit, “Zylon” fibre, once touted as a marvel of protection, revealed its frailty in adverse environments. Westrick, the largest supplier of body armour in the United States, sounded the alarm to top officials at SCBA and Toyobo Co. Ltd., warning that concealing defects and ignoring the problem would jeopardize the lives of federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies, and ultimately, bring about calamitous consequences for the company.
In 2003, a California police officer met a tragic demise while donning a vest made of Zylon fibre, prompting Westrick to initiate a False Claims Act lawsuit against SCBA and Toyobo Co., Ltd. in 2004. The United States Government took up the mantle in 2005, intervening in the case on behalf of Westrick. After a protracted 13-year legal struggle with the Japanese manufacturer, Toyobo Co. Ltd., the company finally agreed to a $66 million settlement to the United States for damages.