Honeywell International can’t be forced to pay $35 million to the government if it’s found to have violated federal law because other companies already paid restitution as part of their settlement agreements in False Claims Act cases involving the supply and sale of faulty body armor, an appeals court ruled Tuesday in a precedential opinion.

The ruling by Judges Naomi Rao, David Tatel and Douglas Ginsburg of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit means Honeywell will avoid paying the U.S. Department of Justice in a case the government brought against the company for providing Zylon fiber to a manufacturer that used the material in allegedly defective bullet-resistant vests that the government bought.