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"Any Degree of Fraud" Bars Contractor Claims

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 10.13.14

In Laguna Constr. Co. (Oct. 7), the ASBCA denied a $2.9 million claim for unpaid invoices because two of Laguna's employees had pled guilty to accepting subcontractor kickbacks under some, but not all, of the task orders under appeal. The Board imputed the fraud to the company and, applying the doctrine of "antecedent breach," held that the contractor's material breach excused the government's subsequent failure to pay for the completed and invoiced work.


Insights

Client Alert | 3 min read | 07.23.26

Protester Beware: Recent GAO Decision Suggests Traditional “Reasonable Possibility” Prejudice Standard May Be Evolving

It is well established that “[c]ompetitive prejudice is an essential element of every viable protest.” Yet, for decades, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has tempered this requirement with two critical corollaries: protesters need only demonstrate a “reasonable possibility” that they were prejudiced by an agency’s actions, and GAO “will resolve doubts regarding prejudice in favor of the protester.” These principles have been consistent features of GAO’s bid protest jurisprudence for more than 30 years. See, e.g., United Int’l Eng'g, Inc., B-245448, Jan. 29, 1992, 71 CPD ¶ 177....