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Legal Proceedings
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2014
Legal Proceedings [Abstract]  
Legal Proceedings
Legal Proceedings
Various legal proceedings, claims and investigations related to products, contracts, employment and other matters are pending against us. Potentially material contingencies are discussed below.
We are subject to various U.S. government investigations, from which civil, criminal or administrative proceedings could result or have resulted in the past. Such proceedings involve or could involve claims by the government for fines, penalties, compensatory and treble damages, restitution and/or forfeitures. Under government regulations, a company, or one or more of its operating divisions or subdivisions, can also be suspended or debarred from government contracts, or lose its export privileges, based on the results of investigations. We believe, based upon current information, that the outcome of any such government disputes and investigations will not have a material effect on our financial position, results of operations, or cash flows, except as set forth below. Where it is reasonably possible that we will incur losses in excess of recorded amounts in connection with any of the matters set forth below, we will disclose either the amount or range of reasonably possible losses in excess of such amounts or, where no such amount or range can be reasonably estimated, the reasons why no such estimate can be made.
Employment, Labor and Benefits Litigation
In connection with the 2005 sale of the former Wichita facility to Spirit AeroSystems, Inc. (Spirit), on February 16, 2007, an action entitled Harkness et al. v. The Boeing Company et al. was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas, alleging collective bargaining agreement breaches and ERISA violations in connection with alleged failures to provide benefits to certain former employees of the Wichita facility. The plaintiffs and Boeing agreed on June 12, 2014 to a settlement of the matter, subject to a fairness hearing. The settlement would apply to approximately 2,000 employees who were subsequently employed by Spirit. Spirit is obligated to indemnify Boeing for settlement of this matter and we intend to pursue full indemnification from Spirit. We cannot reasonably estimate the range of loss, if any, that may result from this matter pending the outcome of the fairness hearing.

On October 13, 2006, we were named as a defendant in a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. Plaintiffs, seeking to represent a class of similarly situated participants and beneficiaries in The Boeing Company Voluntary Investment Plan (the VIP), alleged that fees and expenses incurred by the VIP were and are unreasonable and excessive, not incurred solely for the benefit of the VIP and its participants, and were undisclosed to participants. The plaintiffs further alleged that defendants breached their fiduciary duties in violation of §502(a)(2) of ERISA, and sought injunctive and equitable relief pursuant to §502(a)(3) of ERISA. Summary judgment briefs were filed in the district court on January 6, 2014, and plaintiffs’ opposition briefs were filed on February 10, 2014. On June 10, 2014, the district court set August 4, 2014 as the date for oral argument on the summary judgment motions, September 22, 2014 as the date for the Final Pretrial Conference and a Presumptive Trial Date of October 2014. We cannot reasonably estimate the range of loss, if any, that may result from this matter given the current procedural status of the litigation.