Advanced Team Concepts, Inc. v. United States

77 Fed. Cl. 111, 2007 U.S. Claims LEXIS 175, 2007 WL 1672771
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedJune 8, 2007
DocketNo. 02-197C
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 77 Fed. Cl. 111 (Advanced Team Concepts, Inc. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Advanced Team Concepts, Inc. v. United States, 77 Fed. Cl. 111, 2007 U.S. Claims LEXIS 175, 2007 WL 1672771 (uscfc 2007).

Opinion

OPINION and ORDER

SMITH, Senior Judge.

This case is before the Court on Defendant’s Motion for Clarification of the Court’s Liability Opinion and Plaintiffs Motion for Summary Judgment on Damages and Response to the Government’s Motion for Clarification. Previously, the Court granted partial summary judgment for Plaintiff, Advanced Team Concepts (“ATC”), finding that there was an implied-in-fact contract for the [112]*1122001 academic year.1 The Court further granted partial summary judgment for Defendant.

This was based on the finding that there was no implied-in-fact contract for the 2002 academic year between Plaintiff and the national customer service training facility for the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Leadership Development Center (“LDC”). Following the Court’s Liability Opinion, the Government filed a Motion for Clarification. In response, ATC filed a Motion for Summary Judgment on Damages and Response to the Government’s Motion for Clarification. Reply briefs were filed and oral argument was held. However, the Court reserved judgment and ordered additional briefing on the issue of damages. Thereafter, the parties submitted supplemental motions for summary judgment and oral argument was again held. The Court has considered these motions and filings in finding the following.

It is apparent to the Court that in order to determine the damages portion of this litigation two questions must be answered. The first question is how many canceled classes were covered by the implied-in-fact contract between ATC and LDC. ATC argues that it should be compensated for a total of twenty-eight classes that had been scheduled and thereafter canceled by LDC, minus mitigation. The Government argues that only eighteen of the twenty-eight classes were scheduled for the 2001 academic year, the point at which the Court severed liability in its previous opinion. The Government further argues that under the Christian Doctrine, ATC should be awarded damages for no more than seven of the eighteen classes. The Court, however, finds that ATC is entitled to recover for all eighteen classes canceled during the 2001 academic year. Therefore, the Court GRANTS IN-PART Plaintiffs Motion for Summary Judgment on Damages and GRANTS, to the extent stated in this Opinion, Defendant’s Motion for Clarification.

The second question is whether a genuine issue of material fact exists sufficient to prevent the award of monetary damages to ATC under the summary judgment standard. With regard to the amount of damages to be awarded, the Court shall DEFER its ruling at this time.

FACTS2

On April 3, 2000, LDC Director Jennifer Lee assigned the 2001 academic year classes to ATC. Pl.App. 142-44, 248. Later, on July 6, 2000, Director Lee sent an email to ATC checking dates for ten additional classes beyond the 2001 academic year and into the first quarter of the 2002 academic year. Id. at 143, 258. Director Lee retired on November 3, 2000 and was subsequently replaced by Lyle Langton. Id. at 273, 304, 307, 432. Three weeks later, Director Langton informed ATC that it would be terminated from teaching its seven remaining writing classes on the 2001 academic year schedule. Id. at 131, 367. LDC did not cancel the classes, only ATC’s participation in them.3 Id. at 129, 131. Director Langton also canceled an additional eight sections (eleven classes total) without rescheduling them as former Director Lee had done previously. Pl. Compl. \134; Pl.App. 126; Pl. Suppl. Br. Hrg. Ex.

On June 27, 2001, Director Langton circulated the class schedule for academic year 2002, prefacing it with an email informing its vendors that LDC was assessing its courses with the potential to change course content [113]*113and delivery. Pl.App. 429, 435. Director Langton further informed the vendors that he would contact them when he finished the review. Id. Finally, on September 14, 2001, Director Langton informed ATC that LDC would not be utilizing its services for the remainder of academic year 2001 and 2002. Id. at 99, 131, 156, 425.

DISCUSSION

In the Liability Opinion, the Court held that an implied-in-fact contract existed between ATC and LDC for the 2001 academic year. The Court further found that an implied-in-faet contract did not exist for the 2002 academic year. Therefore, the Court must now focus its attention on the amount of damages ATC may recover as a result of LDC’s breach of the implied-in-fact contract. ATC filed its Motion for Summary Judgment on Damages pursuant to RCFC 56. Summary judgment is appropriate where there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986).

The Government contends that ATC is not entitled to summary judgment because there still remains a question of fact with regard to the amount of damages to be awarded. The Government further contends that ATC has not provided sufficient evidence with regard to any additional costs incurred, costs avoided, or mitigation of damages. Additionally, the Government asserts that ATC is entitled to recover damages for no more than seven classes. At this time the Court is inclined to agree with the Government with regard to summary judgment on the amount of damages to be awarded, because more evidence appears to be necessary. However, the Court finds that it can determine the number of classes ATC is entitled to under the contract. That number is eighteen.

1. Eighteen Classes Covered by Implied-In-Fact Contract

ATC requests damages for twenty-eight classes scheduled by former Director Lee which were subsequently canceled by Director Langton. Pl.App. 131, 248, 258. Eighteen of those classes were scheduled for the 2001 academic year. Id. at 131, 248. The remaining ten classes were tentatively scheduled for the first quarter of the 2002 academic year. Id. at 131, 258. ATC argues that because the ten additional classes were originally scheduled for the end of the 2001 calendar year by former Director Lee, these classes should be included in the calculation of damages. Pl. Mot. S.J. on Damages at 3 (citing Pl.App. 258); Hrg. Tr. 15-17 (Oral Argument May 22, 2007) (“Tr.”).

The Government argues that ATC cannot recover damages for the ten additional classes because the Court’s Liability Opinion severed liability at the end of the 2001 academic year, which ended September 30, 2001. The Government further contends that the act of setting a tentative schedule for the first quarter of the following year was not a long standing practice under former Director Lee and not all communications between LDC and ATC constituted a contract. Def. Resp. to Pl. Mot. S.J. at 10; Tr. 23-26. The Court agrees. It is clear that the additional ten classes are not compensable because they were not scheduled to occur during the 2001 academic year and were tentative. Pl.App. 258 (July 6, 2000 Email from Director Lee to ATC tentatively scheduling class dates for the remainder of the 2001 calendar year).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
77 Fed. Cl. 111, 2007 U.S. Claims LEXIS 175, 2007 WL 1672771, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/advanced-team-concepts-inc-v-united-states-uscfc-2007.