In the first two parts of this series, we have summarized what constitutes an Organizational Conflict of Interest (“OCI”) in government procurements and discussed OCIs’ importance in the bid protest arena. But lest you think that, having passed the protest hurdle, you are now free from all harm caused by having an OCI, we now address potential post-award liability stemming from undisclosed and unmitigated OCIs. Contractors found to have undisclosed and unmitigated OCIs, that either existed before award or arose thereafter, can face a variety of bad outcomes—contract termination, suspension or debarment, and liability for fraud under the False Claims Act (“FCA”). Recall that OCIs come in three forms:
- Unfair Competitive Advantage – when a contractor obtains confidential or proprietary government information not accessible to competitors
- Impaired Objectivity – when contract performance could affect a contractor’s other financial interests
- Biased Ground Rules – when a contractor helps design the statement of work or other solicitation requirements for a future procurement for which they ultimately submit a proposal
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