UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 20-2146

EAST COAST REPAIR & FABRICATION, LLC,

Plaintiff – Appellant,

v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, THROUGH THE DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY, and its activity, the Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center,

Defendant – Appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Norfolk. Arenda L. Wright Allen, District Judge. (2:20-cv-00057-AWA-DEM)

Argued: September 22, 2021 Decided: October 14, 2021

Before MOTZ and AGEE, Circuit Judges, and KEENAN, Senior Circuit Judge.

Affirmed by published opinion. Judge Motz wrote the opinion, in which Judge Agee and Senior Judge Keenan joined.

ARGUED: Dustin Mitchell Paul, VANDEVENTER BLACK, LLP, Norfolk, Virginia, for Appellant. Michael Anthony DiLauro, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Brian M. Boynton, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Appellee. DIANA GRIBBON MOTZ, Circuit Judge: