Protest Alleging Bias in Proposal Evaluation

Industrial Writing Institute, Inc. protested the award of a contract by the Division of Contract and Grant Operations of the Office of the Secretary, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW). The contract, for two courses in regulation writing and management, was designed to enable HEW employees to train others in these skills, and was to be performed in 4 months; it was awarded to Morgan Management Systems, Inc. in December 1978. The protester requested a stop work order from HEW, but it was denied. Under the contract, the successful bidder was to develop training materials incorporating a specific list of background information, and be responsible for a curriculum plan covering writing and editing, planning and management of the legal and administrative framework for regulation development, and teaching methods. Proposals were subjected to evaluation in five major categories. Industrial Writing Institute argued that its proposal was underrated in three categories, that HEW evaluators were prejudiced against it, that it was not informed of deficiencies in its proposal, and that it should have received the award because its bid was lower than Morgan's. GAO does not reevaluate proposals or assign them precise numerical scores, and only questions an agency's judgment when there is a clear showing of unreasonableness or a violation of procurement procedures, which did not occur in this case. The charge of bias against HEW evaluators was only supported by accusations of hostility and implied guilt by association. Industrial Writing Institute received a request from HEW for 13 points of additional clarification, amplification, and discussion of its original proposal to be included in its best and final offer, all of which constituted notification of deficiencies. The protester's proposal was judged unacceptable by HEW, but the lower bid was irrelevant because it was ineligible for the award. The protest was accordingly denied.