Protest spotlight

(This occasional feature highlights protests decided by the Government Accountability Office.)

Agency: Navy

Awardee: DZSP 21

Protester: Fluor Federal Solutions

What GAO found: Fluor protested the award of a Navy contract to DZSP 21 for base operations support services for the Joint Region Marianas on Guam, arguing the service "misevaluated proposals and made an unreasonable source selection decision."

GAO notes in its decision this is the third time it has reviewed the case. The first time, GAO sustained Fluor's protest, and the Navy made a new decision but again selected DZSP. The second time, GAO conducted an outcome prediction alternative dispute resolution and advised it would likely sustain the protest. The Navy again took corrective action and again chose DZSP.

Fluor argued the Navy "engaged in disparate treatment in connection with evaluating its proposal and DZSP's proposal in the area of staff recruitment and retention."

GAO backs Fluor, sustaining the protest.

The "record shows that the agency evaluated the offerors disparately under the staffing and resources factor, criticizing Fluor's proposed approach as possibly involving a risk that it would not be able to recruit the incumbent workforce, while at the same time failing to meaningfully consider whether a similar risk was raised by DZSP's proposed approach of repeatedly replacing its exempt employee workforce over the life of the contract," GAO writes. "We recommend that the agency reevaluate proposals in a manner that is consistent with this decision and make a new source selection decision after performing that reevaluation."

Read the decision here.