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General Counsel, P.C.’s Government Contracts Practice Group is pleased to provide you with the Bid Protest Weekly.

  • By GCPC GovCon Legal Team
  • April 24, 2015
  • Bid Protests
  • 0 Comments

General Counsel, P.C.’s Government Contracts Practice Group is pleased to provide you with the Bid Protest Weekly. Researched, written and distributed by the attorneys of General Counsel, P.C., the Bid Protest Weekly allows the Government Contract community to stay on top of the latest developments involving bid protests by providing summaries of recent bid protest decisions, highlighting key areas of law, agencies, and analyses of the protest process in general.

General Counsel, P.C.’s Government Contracts Group has over fifty years of combined government contract law experience (both as government, in-house, outside legal counsel), helping clients solve their government contract problems relating to the award or performance of a federal government contract, including bid protests, contract claims, small business concerns, and teaming and subcontractor relations.

If you have any questions or comments regarding the discussed content, or questions about bid protests, please feel free to contact the attorneys at General Counsel, P.C. at (703) 556-0411 or visit us at www.generalcounsellaw.com.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Latvian Connection, LLC, B-410981, April 6, 2015

Link: GAO Opinion

Agency: Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey

Disposition: Protest sustained.

Keywords: Business Integrity: Negative responsibility determination

General Counsel P.C. Highlight: An agency cannot exclude a small business from competition for perceived lack of business integrity without referring the matter to the Small Business Administration for a determination first.

Latvian Connection, LLC (“Latvian”) protested its exclusion from competition under a request for quotations (“RFQ”) issued by the Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), for the fabrication and installation of mechanical assist mobile shelving system components.

The solicitation was set aside for small businesses and was conducted through FedBid, a commercial online procurement services provider, using its reverse auction platform. In order to participate in the bidding, a prospective vendor was required to have a valid FedBid account. Prior to the RFQ release date, FedBid unilaterally suspended Latvian’s FedBid account, based in part on its determination of the firm’s lack of “System and Business Integrity.” This suspension precluded Latvian from competing for the USGS RFQ.

Latvian, a small business, argued that its exclusion from the bidding process constituted either a negative responsibility determination which should have been referred to the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) for disposition, or an improper de facto disbarment.

As a preliminary matter, USGS argued that because Latvian was currently suspended from competing, it was not an interested party, and therefore could not protest the procurement. The GAO found that Latvian established its status as an interested party. The GAO stated that (1) the suspension could not be the basis for a determination that Latvian was an uninterested party given that the suspension is the action which was being challenged, and if the challenge was upheld, Latvian could have been a potential vendor; and (2) Latvian indicated that if it were allowed to compete, it would team with two specific small businesses and with a service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB) construction company.

The GAO determined that under the Small Business Act, an agency may not preclude a small business from being awarded a contract for reasons involving issues such as integrity without referring the matter to the SBA for a final disposition. FedBid acted as an agent for USGS, and in that capacity made a determination that Latvian lacked integrity in its business practices without seeking input from SBA.

USGS did not follow the correct process and GAO sustained the protest in favor of Latvian.
_________________________________________________________________________________________

General Counsel, P.C. – Experienced Representation of Government Contractors: Led by Rocky Galloway, General Counsel’s GovCon Practice Group has over thirty years of government contract law experience. Our attorneys have experience relevant to the entire life-cycle of a government contractor, including formation, contract negotiation and award, contract administration, bid and contract disputes, and Mergers and Acquisitions transactions.

Every Business Needs a General Counsel – Founded in 2004 by Merritt Green, General Counsel, P.C. represents businesses, not-for-profit organizations, and individuals throughout the DC Metropolitan Area and across the nation and globe. The firm has eight (8) practice areas to fully serve our clients: (1) Corporate/Business Law; (2) Government Contracts; (3) State/Federal Litigation/Dispute Resolution; (4) Employment Law; (5) Immigration; (6) Intellectual Property; (7) Franchising; and (8) Not for Profits.

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