Franklin E. Penny Co. v. United States

524 F.2d 668, 20 Cont. Cas. Fed. 83,912, 207 Ct. Cl. 842, 1975 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 106
United States Court of Claims·Decided October 22, 1975·No. No. 433-73·Published·Cited by 30 cases

Opinion

PeR Curiam : This case comes before the court on defendant’s motion, filed June 12, 1975, pursuant to Rule 141(b) [but deemed to have been filed under Rule 54(b) (iii)], requesting that the court adopt the recommended decision of Trial Judge John P. Wiese*, filed April 28, 1975, pursuant to Rule 166(c) on plaintiff’s motion and defendant’s cross-motion for summary judgment, since plaintiff has failed to file a timely request for review by the court of the trial judge’s recommended decision. Upon consideration thereof, without oral argument, since the court agrees with the trial judge’s recommended decision, as hereinafter set forth, it hereby affirms and adopts the same as the basis for its judgment in this case. Therefore, plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment is denied, defendant’s cross-motion for summary judg[847] ment is granted, plaintiff’s petition is dismissed and judgment is entered for defendant on its counterclaims against plaintiff in the sum of $58,992.94.

OPINION OP TRIAL JUDGE

Wiese, Trial Judge:

This is an appeal from a decision of the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (hereinafter the Board) sustaining the Government’s default termination of plaintiff’s supply contract.1 The appeal, presented here in the conventional format of a motion for summary judgment, asserts that the administrative decision is not entitled to finality under the Wunderlich Act2 first, because it reflects alleged errors of law and second, because it includes factual findings that are said to be lacking in substantial evidentiary support. The United States denies these claimed deficiencies in the Board’s decision and insists that the decision is entitled to full finality. In addition, the United States has interposed, by way of counterclaims, a demand for judgment in the amount of $58,992.94. This demand represents the aggregate of excess reprocurement costs that were incurred by the United States in consequence of its reletting of 14 separate contracts upon each of which plaintiff had been default terminated.

Upon a review of the record and notwithstanding some equities in its favor, the conclusion must be reached that plaintiff cannot prevail. The administrative decision is entitled to full finality and the United States is entitled to judgment on its counterclaims.

I. The Essential Facts3

On May 8, 1969, the United States, acting through the Navy Ships Parts Control Center in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, issued a small business set-aside solicitation seeking bids for the manufacture of 96 shock mounts for Terrier missile containers. The shock mounts, which were to be fabricated in accordance with the specifications contained in a [848]*8481965 drawing, included a subassembly that required the bonding of rubber blocks to metal plates. Eelevant to this bonding requirement was a recitation on the drawing which stated as follows:

The following manufacturers are approved for the bonding of the metal parts to the rubber.
1. Lord Manufacturing Company, Erie, Pa.
2. Dow-Elco Inc., Montebello, California
3. Henrite Products Corporation, Ironton, Ohio
4. Goodyear Tire and Eubber Company
Other manufacturers wishing to bond the rubber parts shall contact the Navy Bureau of Ordnance, Washington, D.C. for approval. [ASBCA Eecord, Appellant’s Exhibit A-l, Contract Drawing, Shock Mount Sub-Assembly.]

Upon receipt of this solicitation, the contractor contacted various potential suppliers to ascertain prices and delivery times. Among the companies thus contacted was the Lord Manufacturing Company, the first of the four companies that had been listed on the contract drawing as a Navy-approved source of supply for the bonding requirement. This initial contact with the Lord Manufacturing Company was by way of a telephone call between plaintiff’s president and a Lord salesman and, in the course of their telephone conversation, plaintiff was informed that the company had often done the bonding operation in the past. At the time, plaintiff asked for and was given a bonding quote of $12 per unit. However, it does not appear from the testimony that anything more than this was ascertained, that is, the question of delivery was not discussed. On this same point, the Board found “that the latter [meaning plaintiff’s president] made no direct inquiry as to whether and within what time frame Lord Manufacturing Company was willing to undertake the bonding job and that he considered the salesman’s willingness to quote a price as implying willingness on Lord’s part to perform the work when given a definite order * * 4

Following this telephone conversation and being then otherwise satisfied that it could properly accomplish the work, the contractor submitted a bid and was awarded the [849] contract in the latter part of June 1969. Under its terms full performance was due within 90 days from the award, or, in this instance, by September 15,1969. The total amount of the contract was $33,600.

Approximately one month after the contract award, the contractor forwarded a purchase order to Lord Manufacturing Company asking that it undertake to do the bonding work that the contract required. Within a week thereafter, on July 30, 1969, Lord Manufacturing responded saying that it was not then tooled to produce the item and would therefore not be competitive; hence, the order was declined. Thereupon, the contractor turned to the other Navy-approved suppliers and learned through the inquiries that followed that of the three remaining listed companies, two — Henrite Products Corporation and Dow-Elco Inc. — were no longer in business, while the third, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, was not interested in the work because the job was too small and the delivery time too short. Other companies were then sought out but without timely success.

Because of this difficulty, the contractor found it necessary to request a time extension. On September 4,1969, plaintiff’s president addressed a letter to the Defense Contract Administrative Services Region (DCASR), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which asked for an extension of the contract’s delivery date to December 15,1969. This request was granted. In the letter asking for the extension, no mention was made of the bonding problem. Instead, the contractor referred to his problems as “machining difficulties.” In his testimony before the Board, the contractor explained that use of the term “machining difficulties” had been suggested to him by a DCASR employee whose function it was to monitor the status of the contractor’s production and who, in the pursuance of these duties, visited the contractor’s plant on a weekly basis and was thus aware of the problem that had been encountered with respect to locating a subcontractor for the bonding work.

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Franklin E. Penny Co. v. United States, 524 F.2d 668, 20 Cont. Cas. Fed. 83,912, 207 Ct. Cl. 842, 1975 U.S. Ct. Cl. LEXIS 106 (cc 1975).

524 F.2d 668 (Franklin E. Penny Co. v. United States) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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