The ASBCA (Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals) dismissed, for lack of jurisdiction, an appeal by a contractor because there was insufficient evidence to show that the contracting officer ever received the claim.
The Board ruled that it is up to the appellant (i.e. the contractor) to demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that it first presented its claim to the contracting officer before appealing to the Board.
The contractor, Starwalker PR LLC, identified an email addressed to the contracting officer (and others) that referenced an attached certified claim. That email however did not provide the referenced attachment. Furthermore, the contracting officer testified under oath that she did not receive the claim.
The Government moved to dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction. The contractor didn't request that the Board deny the Government's request but merely asked for a stay of proceedings to give the contracting officer time to decide the claim.
The Board granted the Government's motion to dismiss. The Board noted that the preponderance of the evidence before it did not demonstrate that the contractor had first presented its claim to the contracting officer.
Guess that's one way for the Board to get rid of its backlog. It doesn't solve the long-term problem however since the contractor can simply resubmit its claim to the contracting officer and if necessary, re-file an appeal with the ASBCA.
No comments:
Post a Comment