GAO Blasts Faulty Past Performance Evaluation

In sustaining the protest in DRS C3 Systems, LLC, (Feb. 26, 2008, http://www.gao.gov/decisions/bidpro/310825.pdf), GAO found that the agency broke nearly every conceivable rule in the past performance evaluation by disregarding the awardee's "extremely adverse" past performance, departing from the stated evaluation criteria, failing to weigh the relevance of available past performance data, and incorporating "various inaccuracies" in the evaluation report. In arriving at its decision, the GAO also highlighted the agency's evolving litigation positions and rejected the agency's "no prejudice" defense when GAO could not "determine that [the awardee's] proposal would remain technically superior overall."