Consequences for Large Primes Not Hitting Subcontracting Plan Goals

Blog 04.13.15

By Katie Flood The U.S. Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) recently ruled that the Defense Logistics Agency (“DLA”) properly excluded a large business prime contractor’s proposal from the competitive range based in part on the contractor’s consistent failure to meet its small business subcontracting goals on previous contracts. In Graybar, B-410886 (Mar. 4, 2015), the large business prime contractor, Graybar, protested DLA’s exclusion of Graybar’s proposal from the competitive range. Specifically, Graybar challenged DLA’s assignment of deficiencies under the past performance factor, for . . . Read More

When A Protest Isn’t A Protest

Blog 04.08.15

By: Patrick T. Rothwell

In her familiar soliloquy in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, while longingly looking out of her window, Juliet said of her new-found love, Romeo:  “What’s in a name?  That which we call a rose/By any other name would smell as sweet.” Perhaps in a similar vein, Gertrude Stein cryptically wrote “a rose is a rose is a rose.” Law, however, operates with a very different logic. A recent decision issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“Federal . . . Read More

Supreme Court Ruling Increases Potential Liability for Employers Failing to Accommodate Pregnant Employees

Blog, Labor & Employment 04.06.15

        By Corey Argust On March 25, 2015, the Supreme Court reinstated a pregnancy discrimination suit that the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals had previously decided in favor of the employer. The decision in Young v. United Parcel Service, Inc., 575 U.S. ____ (2015), opens the door to potential liability for employers with disability accommodation policies that formerly appeared to be nondiscriminatory. Peggy Young, the plaintiff in Young v. United Parcel Service, Inc. was a former, part-time . . . Read More

PilieroMazza submits final comments to SBA

Publications, Comments 04.03.15

PilieroMazza submitted comments regarding the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (“SBA”) proposed rule of December 29, 2014, regarding the implementation of a statutory mandate for the performance requirements applicable to small business and socioeconomic program set aside contracts and small business subcontracting. The Proposed Rule is designed to implement section 1651 of the National Defense Authorization Act (“NDAA”) of 2013, which changes the limitations on subcontracting for full or partial small business and socio-economic program set-aside contracts and small business subcontracting. Additionally, . . . Read More

Late is not Always Late: The Government Control Exception for Late Proposals

Blog 03.31.15

By Julia Di Vito A common nightmare of government contractors probably plays out like this: you spend a significant amount of time and resources preparing a robust proposal in response to a solicitation, you are sure your firm is the most qualified to do the work and can provide the best value to the government, you submit your proposal electronically before the deadline and then—to your horror—the agency rejects your proposal because it is “late.” If this scenario happens to . . . Read More

House Bill Proposes Improvements to Small Business Contracting Policies

Blog 03.30.15

By Megan Connor The House Small Business Committee approved legislation on March 25, 2015 to ensure more small businesses can compete for federal contracts and help save taxpayer money. H.R. 1481, The Small Contractors Improve Competition Act of 2015 , proposes a series of common sense improvements to small business contracting policies to promote increased competition, a healthier industrial base, and a more cost-effective federal procurement process. The bill is the result of a series of hearings examining small business contracting policies, including a full committee hearing in February and . . . Read More