Allegation That Award Is Not Qualified

A firm protested the award of a Veterans Administration (VA) contract for wheelchair services. The contract was awarded under a small business set-aside solicitation. The firm was the low bidder on the solicitation but its bid was rejected when a VA survey determined that it was not a qualified bidder. The protester, a minority business, contended that it was entitled to preference in the solicitation because of its minority status and that rejection of its bid was solely because of race. GAO held that except for the allegations relating to the firm's minority status, the protest concerned matters of bidder responsibility. In such cases, the matter must be referred to the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Certificate of Competency procedures. This was done, and SBA was considering the matter. Also, the issues in the case were before a U.S. District Court. GAO will not consider issues raised in a protest where the same issues are being considered before a court of competent jurisdiction unless the court expects, requests, or otherwise expresses an interest in a GAO decision. This was not the case in this instance. Therefore, the protest was dismissed.