Todd Construction, L.P. v. United States

88 Fed. Cl. 235, 2009 U.S. Claims LEXIS 257, 2009 WL 2232213
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedJuly 22, 2009
DocketNo. 07-324 C
StatusPublished
Cited by30 cases

This text of 88 Fed. Cl. 235 (Todd Construction, L.P. 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
Todd Construction, L.P. v. United States, 88 Fed. Cl. 235, 2009 U.S. Claims LEXIS 257, 2009 WL 2232213 (uscfc 2009).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

GEORGE W. MILLER, Judge.

Todd Construction sued in this court alleging that the negative performance evalúa-[238]*238tions it received after repairing the roofs of buildings at the Seymour Johnson Air Force base were procedurally improper, unfair and inaccurate, and that Todd was legally entitled to procedurally proper, fair and accurate evaluations. The Government moved to dismiss Todd’s complaint as failing to assert a “claim” within the meaning of the Contracts Disputes Act (“CDA”), which, if true, would have deprived the court of jurisdiction over the complaint, as well as failing to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. The Court denied the motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction on December 9, 2008, but deferred ruling on the defendant’s motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim pending further briefing. Todd Constr. L.P. v. United States, 85 Fed.Cl. 34 (2008). For the reasons discussed below, the Court has concluded that its decision on defendant’s motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) of the Rules of the Court of Federal Claims (“RCFC”) should be held in abeyance until August 12, 2009. If plaintiff does not file a motion for leave to amend its complaint in accord with this opinion by that date, the Court will grant defendant’s motion.

I. Factual Background

In 2003, Todd Construction received two task orders from the United States Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) for roof repair of buildings at the Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina. Todd, 85 Fed.Cl. at 36. The attachments to plaintiff’s supplemental briefing (but not the complaint) indicate that Todd had significant problems in completing the work including one subcontractor’s refusal to perform, a replacement subcontractor’s termination after it altered structural drawings and fabricated an engineer’s stamp, and various disputes over delays and quality control issues Todd alleged to have been caused by the Government. See, e.g., Ex. D to Pl.’s Supp. Br. (docket entry 18-5, Feb. 29, 2008). After the Corps issued proposed final evaluations rating Todd’s overall performance on the work as unsatisfactory, Todd explained in its comments to the contracting officer (but not in the complaint) that it felt these ratings were unmerited because although “this project has had more problems than almost any other we have ever worked on in the past” and “the problems with subcontractors made it difficult to develop and submit in a timely fashion a meaningful construction schedule,” there were nonetheless “other problems ... that severely impacted Todd’s progress.” Todd, 85 Fed.Cl. at 36; Ex. B to Pl.’s Supp. Br. (docket entry 18-3, Feb. 29, 2008); see also id. (explaining that “[gjiven all of the unlikely events of this project Todd understands the frustration of the Government” but Todd is “unsure how” it can be held “accountable for submittals when the subcontractors involved either refuse to provide them or the field conditions preclude them from being done”); id. (“Because it did everything possible to respond to the difficulties on this project and suffered significant financial losses in an effort to rectify problems beyond its control, Todd believes the proposed unsatisfactory evaluation is unfair and not justified.”). After reviewing Todd’s comments, the contracting officer concluded that “[t]he additional documentation provided minimal information to overturn and/or warrant a change in rating. Todd Construction failed in complying with the terms and conditions of the contract related to Quality Control, Timely Performance, and Effectiveness of Management.” Todd, 85 Fed.Cl. at 36; Ex. C to Pl.’s Supp. Br. (docket entry 18-4, Feb. 29, 2008). In August of 2006, Todd appealed the contracting officer’s decision to Ms. Rita Miles of the Department of the Army, alleging that the Government (1) violated the applicable performance review procedures set forth in Army Corps of Engineers Regulation 415-1-17 and (2) arbitrarily issued evaluations unsupported by the facts. Todd, 85 Fed.Cl. at 36. Ms. Miles rejected that appeal, and the negative evaluations were then made part of the Construction Contractor Appraisal Support System (“CCASS”). Id.

On May 25, 2007, Todd filed a three-page complaint in this Court seeking judicial review of the decision of the contracting officer rejecting Todd’s challenge to the unsatisfactory performance appraisals. Compl. (docket entry 1). Todd asserted in its complaint that (1) it had received two task orders; (2) the Corps had issued proposed unsatisfactory evaluations and Todd had timely commented [239]*239on them; (3) the Corps issued final evaluations that Todd timely appealed; (4) the appeal was rejected and the performance evaluations were posted in CCASS. Compl. ¶¶ 4-7. Thus, Todd alleged, the Corps’ actions were arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion and not in accordance with law; the Corps exceeded its statutory and regulatory authority; the Corps failed to properly observe procedures required by law; and the Corps’ actions were unsupported by substantial evidence and/or unwarranted by the facts. Compl. ¶¶ 8-9. Todd sought a judicial determination that the Corps’ final decisions were unlawful and an order directing the Corps to remove the evaluations from CCASS. Compl., Prayer for Relief.

On August 24, 2007, the Government moved to dismiss Todd’s complaint, alleging that this Court lacked subject matter jurisdiction or, in the alternative, that the complaint failed to state a claim pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6). With respect to the motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, defendant noted that “Todd Construction’s complaint fails because it does not present any claims or allege any facts in support of its claims,” and that the “omission of any factual allegations ... is fatal to its pleading under the standard set forth by the Supreme Court in Bell Atlantic v. Twombly,” 550 U.S. 544, 553-64, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) (also citing Taylor v. United States, 73 Fed. Cl. 532, 546 (2006) and Westover v. United States, 71 Fed.Cl. 635, 640 (2006)).

On December 9, 2008, after multiple rounds of briefing, this Court determined that it possessed jurisdiction over plaintiffs complaint as properly presenting a claim within the scope of the CDA, and thus denied defendant’s motion to dismiss the complaint pursuant to RCFC 12(b)(1). Todd, 85 Fed. Cl. at 34. The Court deferred any ruling on defendant’s motion to dismiss pursuant to RCFC 12(b)(6), and requested further briefing on the question whether plaintiffs complaint stated a claim upon which relief could be granted. The Court requested the parties to assume, solely for the purpose of this supplemental briefing, that Todd Construction would prevail upon the merits, and asked them to address a list of further questions. Id. at 48-49.

The parties filed supplemental briefs stating their initial positions on these questions on March 6, 2009. Defendant’s Additional Briefing on Relief and Standard of Review (“Def.’s Br.”) (docket entry 26); Plaintiffs Supplemental Brief in Response to Court’s December 9, 2008 Opinion and Order (“Pl.’s Br.”) (docket entry 25). Simultaneous responses were filed on April 17, 2009. Defendant’s Response to Plaintiff’s Supplemental Brief (“Def.’s Resp.”) (docket entry 28); Plaintiffs Reply to Defendant’s March 6, 2009, Supplemental Brief (“Pl.’s Resp.”) (docket entry 27).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
88 Fed. Cl. 235, 2009 U.S. Claims LEXIS 257, 2009 WL 2232213, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/todd-construction-lp-v-united-states-uscfc-2009.