OCIs Down Air Force Award

In L-3 Servs., Inc. (Sept. 3, 2009) the GAO found unreasonable the Air Force's conclusions that the awardee did not have either a "biased ground rules" or "unequal access to information" OCI when the awardee's subcontractor had performed procurement planning services that put it in a position to affect the subsequent competition and that gave the subcontract access to non-public information that potentially conferred an unfair competitive advantage in that subsequent competition. The Air Force had initially gotten it right, determining that the subcontractor was barred from participating in the subsequent procurement, only to reverse that decision, thereby setting the stage for GAO's decision sustaining the protest.