TITLE: B-310398.4, World Communications Center, Inc.--Costs, January 16, 2008
BNUMBER: B-310398.4
DATE: January 16, 2008
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B-310398.4, World Communications Center, Inc.--Costs, January 16, 2008

   Decision

   Matter of: World Communications Center, Inc.--Costs

   File: B-310398.4

   Date: January 16, 2008

   Michael J. Murphy, Esq., Murphy Law Firm, P.A., for the protester.

   James Hicks, Esq., and Sheryl Butler Jamison, Esq., Department of Justice,
   for the agency.

   Jonathan L. Kang, Esq., and Ralph O. White, Esq., Office of the General
   Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision.

   DIGEST

   GAO recommends that agency reimburse protester's costs of filing and
   pursuing earlier protests where agency does not contest the protester's
   request, and where the record shows that the agency did not take prompt
   corrective action in the face of a clearly meritorious protest.

   DECISION

   World Communications Center, Inc. (WCC) requests that our Office recommend
   that it be reimbursed the costs of filing and pursuing its protests of the
   award of a sole-source contract to NAL Research Corporation for satellite
   trackers under solicitation STTS-1168, issued by the Department of
   Justice, Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).

   We recommend that the DEA reimburse WCC its reasonable costs of filing and
   pursuing its protests.

   In its earlier protests, B-310398 and B-310398.2, WCC argued that the DEA
   conducted an improper sole-source procurement, and wrongly denied WCC an
   opportunity to compete for the solicitation requirements by refusing to
   test its satellite trackers for compatibility with the DEA's tracking
   system. The agency produced a report responding to the protest
   allegations, and requested that our Office either deny the protests or
   dismiss them based on the agency's argument that WCC was not an interested
   party. Our Office convened a conference call during which the GAO attorney
   assigned to the protest identified concerns regarding the agency's
   rationale for the sole-source award, and indicated that the record as
   produced by the agency did not support the reasonableness of the
   sole-source award. The GAO attorney also requested additional information
   from the DEA to supplement its report. Subsequently, however, the DEA
   advised our Office that it would take corrective action by terminating the
   award to NAL and canceling the solicitation. Because the agency's
   corrective action rendered the protest academic, we dismissed the protests
   on November 30, 2007.

   Where an agency takes corrective action in response to a protest, our
   Office may recommend that a protester be reimbursed the costs of filing
   and pursuing that protest. Bid Protest Regulations, 4 C.F.R. sect. 21.8(e)
   (2007). Such recommendations are generally based upon a concern that the
   agency has taken longer than necessary to initiate corrective action in
   the face of a clearly meritorious protest, thereby causing the protester
   to expend unnecessary time and resources to make further use of the
   protest process in order to obtain relief. See, e.g., AAR Aircraft
   Servs.-Costs, B-291670.6, May 12, 2003, 2003 CPD para. 100 at 5. A protest
   is clearly meritorious when a reasonable agency inquiry into the protest
   allegations would show facts disclosing the absence of a defensible legal
   position. The Real Estate Ctr.-Costs, B-274081.7, Mar. 30, 1998, 98-1 CPD
   para. 105 at 3.

   Here, the DEA states that it "does not contest [WCC's] request for
   reimbursement."[1] Letter from DEA to GAO, Dec. 18, 2007, at 1. In the
   absence of any evidence to show that the DEA's sole-source award
   determination was reasonable, and in view of the agency's decision not to
   contest the request for reimbursement, we conclude that the protest was
   clearly meritorious. We also conclude that the DEA did not take prompt
   corrective action, as it did not terminate the award to NAL and cancel the
   solicitation until after the agency had produced its report on the
   protest, the protester had filed its comments on the report, and the GAO
   attorney assigned to the protest had requested additional information to
   supplement the record.

   We recommend that the agency reimburse WCC its costs of filing and
   pursuing its protests.

   Gary L. Kepplinger
   General Counsel

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   [1] The agency also stated in its letter that it "does reserve the right
   to negotiate the final amount of costs after the Protester submits an
   itemized cost claim." Letter from DEA to GAO, Dec. 18, 2007, at 1.