Precision Standard, Inc. v. United States

71 Fed. Cl. 216, 2006 U.S. Claims LEXIS 114, 2006 WL 1188756
United States Court of Federal Claims·Decided May 2, 2006·No. No. 05-1125 C·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

OPINION

HEWITT, Judge.

The court has before it Plaintiffs Motion for Reconsideration (Pl.’s Mot. or Motion), defendant’s Opposition to Plaintiffs Motion for Reconsideration (Def.’s Resp. or Response), and Plaintiffs Reply to Defendant’s Opposition to Plaintiffs Motion for Reconsideration (Pl.’s Reply or Reply). Pursuant to Rule 59(a)(1) of the Rules of the Court of Federal Claims (RCFC), plaintiff moves the court for reconsideration of the court’s Opinion and Order of February 27, 2006 granting defendant’s motion for judgment on the administrative record and denying plaintiffs motion for judgment on the administrative record (Op. or Opinion). Pl.’s Mot. at 1. For the following reasons, plaintiffs Motion is DENIED.

Rule 59(a)(1) of the Rules of the Court of Federal Claims (RCFC) affords this court discretion to grant reconsideration “to all or any of the parties and on all or part of the issues, for any of the reasons established by the rules of common law or equity applicable as between private parties in the courts of the United States.” RCFC 59(a)(1) (2002); see Yuba Natural Res., Inc. v. United States, 904 F.2d 1577, 1583 (Fed.Cir.1990). A showing in support of the motion “must be based ‘upon manifest error of law, or mistake of fact, and is not intended to give an unhappy litigant an additional chance to sway the court.’ ” Fru-Con Constr. Corp. v. United States, 44 Fed.Cl. 298, 300 (1999) (quoting Bishop v. United States, 26 Cl.Ct. 281, 286 (1992)). A party moving under RCFC 59 “does not persuade the court to grant ... a motion [for reconsideration] by merely reasserting arguments which were previously made and were carefully considered by the court.” Coconut Grove Entertainment, Inc. v. United States, 46 Fed.Cl. 249, 255 (2000); see also Gelco Builders & Burjay Constr. Corp. v. United States, 177 Ct.Cl. 1025, 369 F.2d 992, 1000 n. 7 (1966). Moreover, RCFC 59 is not intended to allow a movant to raise additional theories that it failed to advance in connection with the underlying decision that it moves the court to reconsider. See FruCon, 44 Fed.Cl. at 301 (“Because ‘the litigation process rests on the assumption that both parties present their case once, to then-best advantage,’ a strong public policy precludes a reconsideration motion based on evidence that was readily available at the time the original motion was heard.” (quoting Aerolease Long Beach v. United States, 31 Fed.Cl. 342, 376 (1994))). “Litigants should not, on a motion for reconsideration, be permitted to attempt an extensive retrial based on evidence which was manifestly available at [the] time of the hearing.” Hill v. United States, 69 Fed.Cl. 467, 468 (2006) (quotation omitted); see also Frietsch v. Refco, Inc., 56 F.3d 825, 828 (7th Cir.1995) (“It is not the purpose of allowing motions for reconsideration to enable a party to complete presenting his case after the court has ruled against him.”).

Plaintiff, Precision Standard, Inc. (Precision Standard) argues that the court was incorrect in finding that “ ‘the administrative record contains neither a contemporaneous record of the factors [the Contracting Officer] considered nor attachments of documentation demonstrating what was considered [in awarding the contract to Hawk].’ ” Pl.’s Mot. at 2 (quoting Op. at 20-21) (alterations in original). Plaintiff states that the administrative record does contain a contemporaneous record of such factors. Id. (citing Administrative Record (AR) at 743-45). According to plaintiff, because these factors listed in the administrative record are insuffi-[218]*218dent to make a responsibility determination, see id. at 3 (citing 48 C.F.R. 9.104-1 (2005)), “the determination that Hawk [Enterprises, LLC (Hawk)] was a responsive, responsible offeror was clearly arbitrary and capricious, and the [c]ourt factually erred in finding that this was a proper determination,” id. at 4. Moreover, plaintiff states that the court erred in allowing the declaration of Wesley Key, Contract Specialist with the United States Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM), to supplement the administrative record because Mr. Key is not the contracting officer for AMCOM, and “there is nothing in the Key Declaration to demonstrate that the Contracting Officer had any knowledge of Key’s alleged activities regarding the search of the [Mechanization of Contract Administrative Services (MOCAS)] database.” Id. at 6. Therefore, according to plaintiff, “attributing any statements of Mr. Key to the Contracting Officer was a mistake of fact.” Id. at 8.

Defendant responds that “the evidence is undisputed that the [government awarded the contract to the low, responsible contractor.” Def.’s Resp. at 3. Moreover, asserts defendant, plaintiff did not contest that the government performed a proper review in order to make a responsibility determination when the underlying motion was being argued, see Def.’s Resp. at 5 (citing Plaintiffs Counter Statement of Facts (Pl.’s CSOF) at 3), and therefore “it is manifestly unjust for [Precision Standard] now to argue that the contracting officer did not review information relative to Hawk’s responsibility.” Id. at 4. Third, defendant states that Precision Standard did not contest the supplementation of the administrative record with paragraph 7 of the Key Declaration, and, in fact, “specifically agreed that the [e]ourt could consider this evidence.” Id. at 5. Fourth, defendant argues that, “[t]o the extent that [Precision Standard] is now arguing that the information from the MOCAS database was not before the contracting officer at the time of award, [Precision Standard] could have made that argument before the [c]ourt issued its judgment.” Id. at 6.

Plaintiff replies that “[t]he [c]ourt should have concentrated on the administrative record, which supports the [pjlaintiffs position that no responsibility determination was found by the Contracting Officer.” Pl.’s Reply at 2. Plaintiff argues that it was an “error of fact for the [c]ourt to assume the MOCAS information was considered by the Contracting Officer prior to the award of the contract based on Mr. Key’s declaration, because that is not factually supported.” Id. at 4. Therefore, according to plaintiff, “[t]o allow this mistake of fact to stand would be a material injustice.” Id. at 7.

The court agrees with defendant. Plaintiff had ample opportunity to raise the arguments it makes in its Motion, yet it failed to do so. Defendant’s statement of facts in support of its underlying motion for judgment upon the administrative record stated that

the contracting officer reviewed Hawk’s historical data, capacity data, delinquency data, and production capability information, which was obtained from [government databases and other sources, and he determined that Hawk was responsible. The contracting officer considered that Hawk “has established a business environment with [AMCOM] by receiving a variety of contracts for maintenance, services and supplies with no known delinquency concerns regarding capability.”

Defendant’s Statement of Facts (Def.’s Facts) ¶ 8 (citing AR at 4-5; 945).

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Precision Standard, Inc. v. United States, 71 Fed. Cl. 216, 2006 U.S. Claims LEXIS 114, 2006 WL 1188756 (uscfc 2006).

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