Link: GAO Opinion
Agency: Department of the Army
Disposition: Protest denied.
Keywords: Prejudice
General Counsel P.C. Highlight: Prejudice is an essential element of every viable protest and it will not sustain a protest unless the protester can demonstrate a reasonable possibility that it was prejudiced by the agency’s actions; in effect, a protester must show that, but for the agency’s actions, it would have had a substantial chance of receiving the award.
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The Department of the Army (Army) issued a request for proposals (RFP) for advisory, atmospheric, and analysis support services for U.S. forces in Iraq. The solicitation sought proposals for an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (ID/IQ) contract for a six-month base period, with three six-month option periods. Award was to be made on a “best value” basis and technical proposals were to be evaluated on a “go/no-go” basis. Those with a “go” rating would be evaluated for past performance and price. Past performance was to be evaluated based on past performance questionnaire (PPQ) responses received by the agency.
Calnet, Inc. (Calnet) received a “go” under the technical evaluation factor and a past performance rating of low risk. Calnet’s price was higher than the awardee’s. Calnet asserts that the agency misevaluated the awardee’s proposal by not considering a third PPQ of the awardee’s.
GAO states that prejudice is an essential element of every viable protest and it will not sustain a protest unless the protester can demonstrate a reasonable possibility that it was prejudiced by the agency’s actions; in effect, a protester must show that, but for the agency’s actions, it would have had a substantial chance of receiving the award. GAO’s review of the record shows that the Army rated past performance using the same scores assigned under the various elements of the PPQs. Calnet’s rating would have been the same whether or not the awardee’s third PPQ had been considered. The awardee would have remained in line for award ahead of Calnet due to its lower price. The protest is denied.