The protester alleged the awardee had hired a former agency employee, and that this created a disqualifying conflict of interest. The agency, however, said this former employee never had access to information relating to the procurement. What’s more, the awardee submitted a sworn affidavit denying that it had never hired the former agency official. GAO found that the protester’s allegations, which were based on “connections and conversations with others,” had failed to rebut the agency’s and awardee’s evidence.
Geo Owl, LLC, GAO B-420599
Background
DoD’s Special Operations Command (SOCOM) issued a request for task order proposals seeking socio-cultural analysis services. Several offerors, including Geo Owl, LLC and Quiet Professionals, LLC, submitted proposals. The agency selected Quiet Professionals for award, finding that its highly-rated proposal was worth a slight price premium. Geo protested.
Legal Analysis
Conflict of Interest
Geo alleged that it has learned, “through connections and conversations with others,” that Quiet Professionals had hired a former SOCOM employee to consult on its proposal. Geo contended that hiring of this former agency employee created an appearance of impropriety that should have made Quiet Professionals ineligible for award.
GAO was not convinced. SOCOM performed an investigation and determined that the former employee had worked in a separate contracting division and never had access to the contract filed related to this procurement. Moreover, Quiet Professionals avowed that the company had never hired this former agency official as an employee or as an outside consultant. GAO found the Geo’s unsupported allegations failed to rebut this evidence.
Geo Didn’t Deserve Additional Strengths
Geo claimed it should have received an additional strength because it had experience getting approval of contractors to perform in Germany. But GAO found that this aspect of Geo’s proposal merely met, but did not exceed, the soliciatoin’s requirements.
Disparate Treatment
Geo also alleged that SOCOM disparately evaluated proposals by assessing a strength to Quiet Professionals transition plan while not assigning a strength for the same features in Geo’s plan. GAO, however, found that the transition plans were not similar. Quiet Professionals provided a full range of human resources and support to new hires. Geo was not specific about its on-boarding approach.
Geo is represented by Shane J. McCall, Nicole D. Pottorff, John L. Holtz, Kevin B. Wickliffe, and Stephanie L. Ellis of Koprince McCall Pottroff LLC. The intervenor, Quiet Professionals, is represented by Darwin A. Hindman, II, and Kseniya N. Kuprovska of Baker Donelson. The agency is represented by Isabelle P. Cutting of the Department of Defense. GAO attorneys Michael P. Grogan and Evan D. Wisser participated in the preparation of the decision.