Hernandez, Kroone & Associates, Inc. v. United States

82 Fed. Cl. 229, 2008 U.S. Claims LEXIS 229, 2008 WL 2461741
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedJune 16, 2008
DocketNo. 07-165C
StatusPublished

This text of 82 Fed. Cl. 229 (Hernandez, Kroone & Associates, 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
Hernandez, Kroone & Associates, Inc. v. United States, 82 Fed. Cl. 229, 2008 U.S. Claims LEXIS 229, 2008 WL 2461741 (uscfc 2008).

Opinion

ORDER

JAMES F. MEROW, Senior Judge.

This Contract Disputes Act (“CDA”) case alleges breach of a contract between plaintiff, Hernandez, Kroone and Associates, Inc. (“HKA”) and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (the “Corps”) for the construction of a Border Patrol Station in Indio, California (the “Project”).

The parties’ Joint Preliminary Status Report (“JPSR”) filed on August 31, 2007, recited that on or about February 2, 2005, the Corps solicited bids for the Project. The solicitation, scope of work, plans and specifications were posted on-line as a “sole Source 8(a) Solicitation” pursuant to a Partnership Agreement between the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) and the Department of Defense (“DOD”). Plaintiff was the only entity invited to respond. By an e-mail dated February 2, 2005, the Corps directed plaintiff to a hyperlink to obtain the “whole solicitation.” After reviewing that link and in reliance thereon, plaintiff calculated and submitted its bid on or about February 15, 2005, offering to furnish all services, materials, supplies, plant, labor, equipment and superintendence for $875,468. Plaintiffs bid was accepted and work commenced.

Plaintiff contends that the Corps:

breached the contract by among other things: failing to make timely and complete progress payments; delaying and failing to pay for extra work performed by HKA; requiring changes and additional work without issuing change orders and/or making equitable adjustments and modifications to the contract for requested changes; failing to “Partner”; interfering and disrupting and delaying HKA’s work; failing to obtain the cooperation of third parties’ easements, permits or other documentation which was required to enable HKA to perform; and using authority and discretion in an unreasonable, arbitrary, and capricious manner____HKA also contends that prior to bid time and entering into the contract, the Army Corps failed to disclose to HKA material facts regarding the Project and made untrue representa[232]*232tions regarding the Project, and also provided HKA inaccurate, unworkable, incorrect and insufficient plans, specifications and other materials concerning the Project, as a basis for bidding and performing the Project.

(JPSR 3-4.)

An equitable adjustment of approximately $375,000, plus interest and prompt payment penalties, is sought.

Defendant responds that the contract must be interpreted in light of price and scope of work negotiations between the Corps and plaintiff and between the Corps and General Modular Corporation (“GM”), plaintiffs primary subcontractor. The Corps originally intended to award the contract to GM, but GM was ineligible for an SBA 8(a) sole source award; thus, the contract was awarded to plaintiff, with GM performing as a subcontractor. Except for minor clarifications, the scope of work did not change from the proposal presented to GM. Defendant asserts it is not responsible for any alleged delay, and denies that plaintiff performed any extra work for which it was not compensated, adding that plaintiffs subcontractors performed the bulk of the contract work and refused to submit claims for additional work to be passed through to defendant. During performance of the contract, it is asserted that neither the subcontractors nor plaintiff found the specifications or requirements to be ambiguous. Defendant also states that plaintiffs certified CDA claim included “costs for work that plaintiff did not perform and/or for which HKA already has been compensated via contract modifications” and therefore did not substantiate the damages plaintiff seeks. (JPSR 5.)

Before the court is Defendant’s Motion to Compel Production of Responses to Defendant’s Interrogatories and Defendant’s Motion for Enlargement of Time filed March 26, 2008. Plaintiffs Opposition was filed April 14, 2008 and Defendant’s Reply on May 7, 2008.

Discussion

A party may serve written interrogatories upon any other party. RCFC 33(a). The responding party “must provide true, explicit, responsive, complete, and candid answers to interrogatories.” Hansel v. Shell Oil Corp., 169 F.R.D. 303, 305 (E.D.Pa.1996). Each answer must be made “separately and fully in writing under oath, unless it is objected to, in which event the objecting party shall state the reasons for objection and shall answer to the extent the interrogatory is not objectionable.” RCFC 33(b)(1). Interrogatories “should be answered directly and without evasion in accordance with information that the answering party possesses after due inquiry.” 8A Charles Alan Wright, Arthur R. Miller & Richard L. Marcus, Federal Practice & Procedure § 2177, at 315 (2d ed.1994). An evasive or incomplete answer is treated as a failure to answer. RCFC 37(a)(3). Objections “shall be stated with specificity,” RCFC 33(b)(4), and the propounding party may “move for an order under RCFC 37(a) with respect to any objection to or other failure to answer an interrogatory.” RCFC 33(b)(5). “The party moving to compel discovery bears the burden of proving that the opposing party’s answers are incomplete.” Anaheim Gardens v. United States, 2008 WL 2043240, at *3 (Feb. 29, 2008) (citing Equal Rights Ctr. v. Post Props., Inc., 246 F.R.D. 29, 32 (D.D.C. 2007)).

Defendant served interrogatories and requests for production of documents on plaintiff on December 12, 2007. Defendant consented to plaintiffs request for a two-week extension of time to respond, resulting in a due date of January 25, 2008. Plaintiffs Responses were served on January 25, 2008, although defendant represents it first received them via facsimile on January 31, 2008. (Mot. to Compel 3, n. 2.)

Subsequently, on February 14, 2008, defendant’s counsel, Mr. Solomson, wrote to Ms. Apanian,1 counsel for plaintiff who [233]*233signed the Response, with concerns over responses to Interrogatory Nos. 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9 and 12. Ms. Apanian’s February 22, 2008, return letter included Supplemental Responses and noted she was “available to further meet and confer by phone at a mutually convenient time” if there were any further concerns.2 Confirming a later telephone conversation, Ms. Apanian e-mailed Mr. Solom-son on February 25, 2008, asking that any additional perceived deficiencies be brought to her attention with an opportunity to respond and adding that any motion to compel filed without attempts at informal resolution would be inconsistent with good faith requirements.

In a “final attempt” to resolve what defendant described as plaintiffs failure to provide adequate responses, in a March 12, 2008, letter to Ms. Apanian, Mr. Solomson disagreed with her position that there were more than the twenty-five interrogatories permitted by RCFC 33(a). (Mot. to Compel 75.) In a four-page chart, Mr. Solomson summarized the positions of the parties concerning unresolved interrogatory issues. (Id. at 77-80.) Raising another matter, he suggested the deadlines in the court’s September 6, 2007, scheduling order be extended by three months, citing delays in plaintiffs production of documents (not completed until March 6, 2008) and defendant’s need to retain a damages expert. Ms. Apanian was asked to advise within two weeks whether she would be providing further supplementation of interrogatory responses and what her position was on extending deadlines. (Id. at 76.)

In a March 18, 2008 letter, Ms.

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82 Fed. Cl. 229, 2008 U.S. Claims LEXIS 229, 2008 WL 2461741, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hernandez-kroone-associates-inc-v-united-states-uscfc-2008.