Environmental Safety Consultants, Inc. v. United States

97 Fed. Cl. 190, 2011 U.S. Claims LEXIS 64, 2011 WL 488685
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedFebruary 11, 2011
DocketNo. 10-191 C
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 97 Fed. Cl. 190 (Environmental Safety Consultants, 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
Environmental Safety Consultants, Inc. v. United States, 97 Fed. Cl. 190, 2011 U.S. Claims LEXIS 64, 2011 WL 488685 (uscfc 2011).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

HEWITT, Chief Judge.

Before the court are plaintiffs’ Complaint1 (Complaint or Compl.), Docket Number (Dkt. No.) 1, filed March 30, 2010; Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss (defendant’s Motion or Def.’s Mot.) and Defendant’s Appendix (Def.’s Mot. App.), Dkt. No. 6, filed June 1, 2010; Plaintiffs’ Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Opposition to Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss2 (plaintiffs’ Memorandum or Pis.’ Mem.), Dkt. No. 11, filed November 4, 2010; Defendant’s Response to Plaintiffs’ Memorandum of Points and Authorities Pursuant to the Court’s Show Cause Order (defendant’s Response or Def.’s Resp.) and Appendix (Def.’s Resp. App.), Dkt. No. 13, filed November 17, 2010; and Plaintiffs’ Reply to Defendant’s Response to Plaintiffs’ Memorandum of Points and Authorities (plaintiffs’ Reply or Pis.’ Reply), Dkt. No. 14, filed November 29, 2010.

Plaintiffs filed their Memorandum pursuant to the court’s Opinion and Order of October 21, 2010, Dkt. No. 10. See Envtl. Safety Consultants, Inc. v. United States, 95 Fed.Cl. 77, 100 (2010) (ordering plaintiffs to show cause why Count One (a) of plaintiffs’ Complaint should not be dismissed). Familiarity [192]*192with that opinion is assumed. The court will briefly recount the procedural history and facts relevant to the issues now before the court.

I. Background

A. Procedural History of this Case

Plaintiffs are Environmental Safety Consultants, Inc. (ESCI) and Peter C. Nwogu (Nwogu), who is the founder, owner, President and Project Manager of ESCI. Compl. ¶ 6. In their Complaint, plaintiffs asserted claims under contract law, the Prompt Payment Act and the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment related to contracts ESCI entered into with the United States Department of the Navy (Navy), the United States Army Corps of Engineers and the National Parks Service. See Compl. ¶¶ 1, 60-78. Defendant moved to dismiss plaintiffs’ contract claims for lack of jurisdiction pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1) of the Rules of the United States Court of Federal Claims (RCFC). Def.’s Mot. 1. Defendant also moved to dismiss plaintiffs’ Fifth Amendment takings claim and plaintiffs’ allegation of a violation of the Prompt Payment Act for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the RCFC. Id.

In its Opinion and Order of October 21, 2010, the court granted in part and denied in part defendant’s Motion to Dismiss. Envtl. Safety Consultants, Inc., 95 Fed.Cl. at 100. The court dismissed all of plaintiffs’ claims related to ESCI’s contracts with the United States Army Corps of Engineers and the National Parks Service. See id. The court also dismissed all of the claims plaintiffs made pursuant to the Prompt Payment Act, 31 U.S.C. §§ 3901-3905 (2006), and the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment. See id.

The court denied defendant’s Motion to Dismiss as it related to a specific claim under ESCI’s contract with the Navy. See id. In Count One (a)3 of their Complaint, plaintiffs alleged that defendant breached the Navy contract with ESCI by “withholding progress payments and failing] to pay Plaintiffs for work completed” on the contract from November 1995 through August 12, 1998. Compl. ¶¶ 60, 63. Plaintiffs asserted that on October 22, 2003 ESCI submitted a “written claim to the contracting officer for a decision of payments of overdue invoices and wrongful [sic] withheld earned contract funds in the amount of approximately $457,762.37.” Plaintiffs’ Brief in Opposition to Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss (Pis.’ Resp.), Dkt. No. 7, at 12. Plaintiffs further asserted that the Contracting Officer (CO) did not issue a final decision on their claim within sixty days, so that under the Contract Disputes Act (CDA), their claim was “deemed denied.” Pis.’ Resp. 12; see Act of Jan. 4, 2011, Pub.L. No. 111-350, § 7103(f)(5), 124 Stat. 3677.4

[193]*193Plaintiffs’ claims relating to their October 22, 2003 submission to the Contracting Officer were the only claims from Count One that were not dismissed.5 Envtl. Safety Consultants, Inc., 95 Fed.Cl. at 100. The court found that it was not denied jurisdiction over the claims for two reasons:

(1) because the Contracting Officer failed to make a final decision on the claim, the twelve month statute of limitations to bring suit in the [United States] Court of Federal Claims [ (Court of Federal Claims) ] has not yet begun to run, and (2) because the [Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA) ] lacked jurisdiction to hear the claim, plaintiffs did not make a binding election to pursue their claim in the ASBCA

Id. at 90-91.

However, in footnote 16 of its Opinion and Order of October 21, 2010, the court noted that a potential jurisdictional issue related to the October 22, 2003 claim submission remained. Id. at 90 n. 16. Footnote 16 states:

The briefing on Count One relating to the October 22, 2003 claim did not address a potential jurisdictional issue, to which the court’s attention was drawn by the span of time between the formation of the contract in 1995 and the plaintiffs’ submission to the Contracting Officer in 2003. Plaintiffs’ claims relating to the October 22, 2003 claim may be outside another statute of limitations in the CDA The CDA states that “[e]ach claim by a contractor against the government relating to a contract ... shall be submitted within 6 years after the accrual of the claim.” 41 U.S.C. § 605(a) (2006). Neither party has addressed the date when plaintiffs’ claim accrued. If plaintiffs’ claim accrued more than six years before October 22, 2003, it would be subject to dismissal for lack of jurisdiction.

Id.

Because neither plaintiffs nor defendant addressed the date when plaintiffs’ claim accrued or filed a copy of plaintiffs’ October 22, 2003 claim submission with the court, the court was unable to determine whether plaintiffs’ claim accrued within the CDA’s six-year [194]*194statute of limitations. See Pub.L. No. Ill— 350, § 7103(a)(4)(A). The court ordered plaintiffs to file a memorandum of points and authorities to show cause as to why plaintiffs’ Count One (a) of their Complaint should not be dismissed and specifically directed plaintiffs to address the CDA’s six-year statute of limitations issue as described in footnote 16 of the Opinion and Order. Envtl. Safety Consultants, Inc., 95 Fed.Cl. at 100. Defendant submitted ESCI’s October 22, 2003 claim submission as the Appendix to its Response. See Def.’s Resp. App.

B. Relevant Facts6

On November 13, 1995 ESCI entered into Contract No. N62470-95-C-2399 FY 95 with the Navy to remove storage tanks and contaminated materials from the Naval Weapons Station in Yorktown, Virginia. Compl. ¶ 8; Plaintiffs’ Exhibit (PX) 12 (Envtl. Safety Consultants, Inc., ASBCA No. 51722, 02-2 BCA ¶ 31,951) 1.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Ford Lumber & Building Supply, Inc.
Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals, 2019
Estes Express Lines v. United States
123 Fed. Cl. 538 (Federal Claims, 2015)
Environmental Safety Consultants, Inc.
Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals, 2014
Insurance Co. of the West v. United States
100 Fed. Cl. 58 (Federal Claims, 2011)
Redland Co. v. United States
97 Fed. Cl. 736 (Federal Claims, 2011)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
97 Fed. Cl. 190, 2011 U.S. Claims LEXIS 64, 2011 WL 488685, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/environmental-safety-consultants-inc-v-united-states-uscfc-2011.