Link: GAO Opinion
Agency: United States Marine Corps
Disposition: Protest dismissed.
General Counsel P.C. Highlight:
GAO dismissed the protest of AT&T Government Solutions, Inc., regarding the award of a task order to Jacobs Technology, Inc., under a request for proposals (RFP), which was issued by the Marine Corps for information technology (IT) networking support services for the Marine Corps garrison classified secret internet protocol router network (SIPRNet).
The RFP was issued to contractors holding Navy SeaPort-e multiple-award, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (ID/IQ) contracts. The agency received five proposals and awarded the contract to Jacobs.
AT&T argues that the agency failed to meaningfully consider whether the award was tainted by organizational conflicts of interest (OCIs) that were related to Jacobs’ work on a related task order. The agency conducted an investigation, but found no evidence of OCIs.
Three days before the 100-day deadline for GAO to resolve a protest, as determined by the Competition in Contracting Act, the agency advised that it had waived the OCIs and requested that GAO dismiss the protest. The FAR provides for a waiver of OCIs by the agency where it is used as an alternative to avoiding, neutralizing, or mitigating an OCI.