Event: Government Contracting Ethics, Hosted by Govology

In the commercial world, it’s normal to buy a good customer a holiday gift. But when your customer is Uncle Sam, you might break the law by giving that same gift.

The government contracting ethics rules aren’t always as cut-and-dried as “don’t give the contracting officer a briefcase full of unmarked bills” (although you shouldn’t do that, either!) and the government’s rules sometimes vary from commercial norms. On June 10, please join me and Shane McCall as we cover the key ethics and related rules contractors should know, including gift/gratuity rules, the False Claims Act, Procurement Integrity Act, anti-kickback rules, contingency fee restrictions, conflicts of interest and much more.

This webinar is hosted by our friends at Govology and it’s easy to register: just click here. Shane and I hope to see you on June 10!

GAO Won’t Resolve Alleged Corporate Espionage Dispute

In a recent GAO bid protest, IBM Corp. accused a subcontractor of giving its proposal to a competitor.

GAO dismissed the accusation, explaining that at its core, alleged corporate espionage is a disagreement between two parties, not a contractor and the federal government and therefore not an appropriate matter for resolution in a bid protest.

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Alleged Breach Of Teaming Agreement Not A Procurement Integrity Act Violation, Says GAO

A contractor’s alleged breach of its teaming agreement did not provide a basis for the agency to conclude that a Procurement Integrity Act violation had occurred.

According to a recent GAO bid protest decision, even if a teammate misuse voluntarily provided confidential information, the misuse does not violate the Procurement Integrity Act.  Moreover, the GAO considers an allegation regarding the breach of a teaming agreement to be a private dispute, falling outside of the GAO’s bid protest jurisdiction.

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