Cubic Corp. v. United States

36 Cont. Cas. Fed. 75,972, 20 Cl. Ct. 610, 1990 U.S. Claims LEXIS 220, 1990 WL 75123
CourtUnited States Court of Claims
DecidedJune 6, 1990
DocketNo. 604-88C
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 36 Cont. Cas. Fed. 75,972 (Cubic Corp. v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cubic Corp. v. United States, 36 Cont. Cas. Fed. 75,972, 20 Cl. Ct. 610, 1990 U.S. Claims LEXIS 220, 1990 WL 75123 (cc 1990).

Opinion

OPINION

ROBINSON, Judge.

This is a direct access suit brought under 41 U.S.C. § 605(C)(5). Plaintiff’s complaint alleges that defendant failed to pay interest on its certified claim, submitted as a Request for Equitable Adjustment (REA) to the contracting officer at the Electronic Systems Division (ESD) of the Air Force on March 28, 1986. This claim as amended was settled for the sum of $10,693,845. Plaintiff’s submission was made pursuant to the Contract Disputes Act (CDA), 41 U.S.C. §§ 601 et seq. In this case plaintiff seeks $1,956,038, the amount of interest due on the amount paid for the period between claim submission and when payments were made.

This matter is before the court on defendant’s motion to dismiss filed April 25, 1989, pursuant to RUSCC 12(b)(1) and (h)(3), alleging that this court lacks subject matter jurisdiction. After trial, the parties completed briefing of the issues presented. For the reasons hereinafter assigned, the court will deny defendant’s motion to dismiss.

Factual Background

On March 6, 1984, the ESD of the Air Force Systems Command, Hanscom Air Force Base (AFB), Massachusetts awarded to plaintiff a fixed price incentive contract, Contract No. F19628-84-C-0073, for the manufacture and supply of an advanced radar training set (ARMTS) programmable organizational maintenance procedure (PROMPT) hardware system, PROMPT computer software, PROMPT courseware, together with training element intermediate level hardware (TEIL), and various data, and other items, all for the sum of $12,265,067.

The contract required plaintiff to furnish to the Air Force a training device and system for maintenance of the airborne warning and control system aircraft (AWACS) radar. This was to be accomplished by developing an interactive data based software-directed system utilizing Government-furnished lesson plans and Government-furnished operations and procedures (O/Ps) that would be the primary content of the stored data base used for the training curriculum. The equipment was required to meet the performance requirements of the Prime Item Development Specifications (PIDS) which were a part of the contract.

The REA, submitted March 28, 1986, to the Contracting Officer (CO) at ESD, sought an equitable adjustment in the contract target cost and an increase in con[612]*612tract price for the performance of tasks which plaintiff claims had been in dispute, in the total amount of $7,030,367. This sum represented an increase in the target cost from $11,044,146 to $18,074,513, and a commensurate increase in ceiling price. In addition, plaintiff reserved “its rights to supplement this request if and as necessary during the remaining contract period.”

Plaintiff’s REA was based upon its claim that the price adjustment was due to the deleterious impact of defective Government-furnished property (GFP) and Government-imposed changes. The REA cited the Changes, Government Property, and Government Delay of Work clauses of the contract. The claim letter was accompanied by a CDA certification, a standard form (SF) 1411 “contract pricing proposal cover sheet” and a large volume which discussed the claim in detail. On April 2, 1986, EDS, by letter, acknowledged receipt of the claim and indicated that it had begun an evaluation of the claim. Plaintiff amended or supplemented its REA a number of times increasing or decreasing the amount claimed. Addendum No. 3 to the REA dated October 24, 1986 brought the total amount claimed to $11,496,062.

After submission of the REA, the parties attempted unsuccessfully to negotiate a settlement of plaintiff’s claim. These negotiations were ongoing when, on December 22, 1986, the Air Force by telegram terminated the balance of the contract for convenience. By letter dated January 15, 1987, plaintiff submitted an addition to its contract claim adding the sum of $2,390,-000 for under-absorbed overhead and G & A impacts flowing from the events recited in its claim.

By letter dated January 16, 1987, the Procurement Contracting Officer (PCO) directed that plaintiff incorporate all of its several equitable adjustment claims into a single submission and submit a single consolidated proposal containing only the actual expended amount up to the termination for the agency to consider and review. In response, plaintiff, on March 23, 1987, sent the PCO its consolidated equitable adjustment claim in an amount totaling $12,120,-629, with attachments, claim summary, and SF 1411. In plaintiff’s accompanying claim letter, it indicated that as of December 22, 1986, the termination date, it had expended $18,379,350 on the program, but had only been paid $8,082,478, leaving a balance due of $10,296,872.

On April 1, 1987, the Termination Contracting Officer (TCO) at Defense Contract Administration Services region, Los Ange-les (DCASR-LA) advised plaintiff by letter that he was assigned sole responsibility for contract administration and review of plaintiff’s claim.

Although plaintiff sought the TCO’s approval of an interim payment plan pending completion of the TCO’s review, this plan was rejected by letter dated June 15, 1987. Plaintiff responded in a letter dated July 8, 1987, noting that the CDA required that certified claims exceeding $50,000 be resolved within 60 days or the contractor be notified as to when a decision will be made. Plaintiff’s letter, which noted the delays in defendant’s evaluation of its claim advised that:

Cubic will assert its right to interest on all monies due. This right includes interest on contract funds exceeding $10,000,-000 that have been expended but which we are unable to bill and receive due to delays in settling our claims.

In subsequent correspondence plaintiff renewed its requests for interim partial payment and prompt settlement of its REA claim and for resolution of the termination inventory and general termination settlement. Defendant’s response was to initiate an audit of plaintiff’s books and records and to meet with plaintiff’s representatives to discuss an orderly procedure for resolving outstanding matters. In a letter dated March 1, 1988, plaintiff again indicated it would assert its right to interest and presented a table to DCASR-LA showing $1,856,007 as the amount of accrued interest claimed.

After further negotiations, by April 2, 1988, defendant had made partial payments of $5,064,000 ($1,133,155 against the base contract and $3,930,845 against the REA claim). The parties continued to negotiate [613]*613and by August 19, 1988 had resolved all issues except plaintiff’s claim for interest on the equitable adjustment claim. The settlement resulted in payment to plaintiff of an additional $7,200,000 ($437,000 in termination expenses and $6,763,000 on the equitable adjustment claim exclusive of interest).

After the CO refused to issue a decision on the interest issue, the parties agreed to contract modification A00001 dated August 22, 1988, which excepted from plaintiff’s release of defendant the question of interest. Plaintiff filed its complaint in this court on October 18, 1988 alleging that under § 12 of the CDA, 41 U.S.C. § 611, it is entitled to interest on its claim from the date it submitted its REA, which amounts to $1,956,038.

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Bluebook (online)
36 Cont. Cas. Fed. 75,972, 20 Cl. Ct. 610, 1990 U.S. Claims LEXIS 220, 1990 WL 75123, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cubic-corp-v-united-states-cc-1990.