IMS Engineers-Architects, P.C. v. United States

87 Fed. Cl. 541, 2009 U.S. Claims LEXIS 231, 2009 WL 1904406
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedJune 26, 2009
DocketNo. 07-291C
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 87 Fed. Cl. 541 (IMS Engineers-Architects, P.C. 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
IMS Engineers-Architects, P.C. v. United States, 87 Fed. Cl. 541, 2009 U.S. Claims LEXIS 231, 2009 WL 1904406 (uscfc 2009).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

CHRISTINE O.C. MILLER, Judge.

This case is before the court on defendant’s motion for partial summary judgment and plaintiffs motion for summary judgment complete. Other than calling for rulings on the quotidian issues of burdens and inferences on summary judgment, defendant’s motion seeks to eliminate claims related to two contracts in order to isolate them from the claim that the Government exercised bad faith in a continuing course of conduct stemming from an earlier contract. Plaintiffs cross-motion quixotically attempts to create a breach of a contract whereby the Government allegedly agreed to buy more than the minimum quantities under the two later contracts in order to atone for its bad faith associated with the earlier contract. Argument is deemed unnecessary.

FACTS

IMS Engineers-Architects, P.C. (“plaintiff’), is a consulting engineering firm with experience as a government contractor. Defendant’s motion for partial summary judgment addresses two contracts between plaintiff and the Government, Contract No. DACA81-92-0046 (“Contract 0046”) and No. DAC31-95-D-0057 (“Contract 0057”). A third earlier contract between parties, No. DACA87-92-C-0004 (“Contract 0004”), not the subject of defendant’s motion, has potential significance based on the nature of plaintiffs complaint. Plaintiff moved for summary judgment on its claims under all three contracts.

On December 24,1991, the Huntsville Division of the Army Corps of Engineers (the “Corps”) awarded plaintiff Contract 0004 to conduct Resource Conservation and Recovery Act facility investigations at the Water-vliet Arsenal (“Watervliet”) in New York State. Contract 0004 was a fixed-price contract for $859,663.00. Subsequent modifications to the contract increased its value to $1,406,320.00.

Plaintiff was awarded Contract 0046 on September 30, 1992. Unlike Contract 0004, which was a fixed-price contract, Contract 0046 was an Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (“IDIQ”) contract. Contract 0046 had a minimum obligation of $100,000.00 and a maximum contract amount of $3 million. Between 1992 and 1994, plaintiff received multiple task orders totaling $654,665.00. Contract 0046 expired on September 30, 1997. Plaintiff earned high performance ratings for work under Contract 0046 and, at least on one occasion, after completion of a project order on April 10, 1994, garnered an “excellent” rating and was recommended for [543]*543future contacts. Defs Resp. to Pl.’s Prop. Findings of Uncontr. Fact No. 12, filed May 1, 2009.

Plaintiff was awarded Contract 0057 on June 30, 1995. Like Contract 0046, Contract 0057 was an IDIQ contract. Contract 0057 had a minimum obligation of $15,000.00 and a maximum contract amount of $750,000.00. By Contract 0057’s expiration in June 1997, the Corps awarded plaintiff two delivery orders under Contract 0057 that totaled $166,710.00 according to defendant, and $130,676.00 according to plaintiff.

Plaintiffs contention, which defendant asserts is unsupported by evidence, is that the Corps pressured plaintiff to work quickly and to complete Contract 0004 in a limited period of time. Plaintiffs performance under Contract 0004 was criticized in a subsequent audit report, published in February 1994, as follows:

IMSL’sj contract performance [under Contract 0004J was unsatisfactory; an on time completion would not be met; and that New York State and Environmental Protection Agency sanctions could occur ... These contract file documentation comments indicate a potential for a default termination....
Pl.’s Br. filed Apr. 3, 2009, App. 127 (“Pl.’s App.”). In light of the criticism of plaintiffs performance on Contract 0004, a transfer of Contract 0004 to Baltimore, Maryland, and other factors, the Corps terminated plaintiff from all duties under Contract 0004.

A series of unsigned Corps internal communications regarding Contract 0004 lists events ultimately leading to the termination of plaintiffs involvement with, and the reassignment of, Contract 0004. On February 24, 1994, representatives from Watervliet, the Huntsville Division, and the Baltimore District of the Corps met to discuss “using an AE [architeet/engineersj firm other than IMS to perform [Contract 0004].” Pl.’s App. at 148. On August 8, 1994, Watervliet formally requested that plaintiff be terminated on Contract 0004. Watervliet’s request was communicated through an August 8, 1994 letter from Russell G. Wells, Director of Public Works at Watervliet, to the Corps Commander, requesting “your contract with IMS for all work at Watervliet Arsenal be terminated.” Pl.’s App. at 160. The Commander of the Baltimore District of the Corps then requested proposals for the remaining Contract 0004 work from Maleolm-Pirnie (“MP”), a large company with prior experience working under similar contracts with the Corps.

On August 10, 1994, plaintiffs President, Iqbal Singh, met with Lieutenant Colonel (“LTC”) Ralph H. Graves of the Baltimore District to discuss plaintiffs qualifications and to communicate its interest in continued work on Contract 0004. Plaintiff contends— an assertion defendant disputes as speculative and misleading, aee Def.’s Resp. to Pl.’s Prop. Findings of Uncontr. Fact No. 25— that during August 1994 plaintiff informally was told that Contract 0004 was going to be terminated. In response, on August 11, 1994, Mr. Singh sent the Corps a letter exhorting plaintiffs credentials in support of its ability to fulfill Contract 0004. Jim Sherman, an employee at Watervliet, forwarded Mr. Singh’s letter to Corps Project Manager Charles R. (“Dick”) Strong. On the facsimile cover sheet, Mr. Sherman wrote: “Our position is that Malcolm-Pirnie is our contractor and Baltimore is our executor.” Pl.’s App. at 161. In an August 11, 1994 letter to Contracting Officer Danny J. Biggs of the Huntsville Division of the Corps, the Small Business Administration (the “SBA”) suggested transferring Contract 0004 to the Baltimore District as preferable to termination. The August 11,1994 letter from the SBA contains a handwritten note stating “you cannot terminate without going thru the SBA, must have strong supporting documentation.” Id. at 163.

LTC Graves wrote two notes in response to the SBA’s August 11, 1994 letter. One note to COL Randall R. Inouye, states:

I have talked to you about this one. Despite Lthe August 11, 1994 SBA letter], we intend to switch to Malcolm Pirnie for the work [under Contract 0004] at Water-vliet. We will try to soften the blow by arranging for IMS to be a sub to MP. We will inform SBA of our decision.

[544]*544Id. at 164. LTC Graves wrote another note, dated August 22, 1994, to Corps Contracting Officer M. Catherine Robertson. “Now that SBA has sent us a letter, we need to answer. As you prepare the letter for Huntsville we discussed Friday, also prepare a version for COL Inouye’s signature in answer to the attached.” Id. at 165. In connection with the note suggesting to “soften the blow” to plaintiff, another note, dated August 19,1994, from Contracting Officer 'William C. Ryals, to Greg Mathews of MP, stated that it was “a go to use our recommended 8(a) sub[eontractor] at Water[vliet] NY.” Id. at 167. Also, on August 19, 1994, MP offered to pay plaintiff for approximately one-quarter of the work at Watervliet, previously under Contract 0004, if plaintiff agreed to act as subcontractor.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
87 Fed. Cl. 541, 2009 U.S. Claims LEXIS 231, 2009 WL 1904406, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ims-engineers-architects-pc-v-united-states-uscfc-2009.