We prevailed on our summary judgment motion to convert the termination for cause into one for the convenience of the government.
The Army awarded our client a commercial items contract to develop foreign language test items for the Defense Foreign Language Institute. Over two years into performance, however, the Army terminated the contract for cause on the grounds that certain test items submitted by our client were unacceptable.
We appealed the termination to the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA) and filed a motion for summary judgment seeking to convert the termination into one for convenience. We argued that the termination was improper based on a previous agreement between the parties. According to this agreement, any test items that were required but not accepted would automatically be descoped from the contract. Therefore, when the government rejected a test item, the corresponding requirement for that item was removed from the contract.
The ASBCA recognized the merits of our argument and granted our motion for summary judgment. It confirmed that the rejection of certain test items did not provide a valid justification for the termination, as the requirement for those items had already been removed from the contract. Our client was also awarded fees under the Equal Access to Justice Act.
