Legal Blog

On September 23, 2019, Senators Chuck Grassley, Tammy Baldwin, Joni Ernst, and Dick Durbin introduced theWhistleblower Programs Improvement Act (WPIA), which protects financial whistleblowers who reportinternallyfrom retaliation. This law mirrors theWhistleblower Protection Reform Act of 2019, which passed in the House of Representatives last spring. It is aimed at clarifying that the Dodd-Frank Act’s anti-retaliation provision should apply equally to employees who report alleged misconduct directly to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and to employees who only report...

The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has caused business disruption across the globe and is having a direct impact on government contractors. The federal government and the medical community’s efforts to contain COVID-19 requires a broad-based commitment to social distancing and self-quarantines, which directly impacts contract completion times and employee productivity. Outside of vital projects related to public health and safety or national security, contract specialists should expect that over the next few weeks, many government contracts will be formally or informally suspended for the...

WorldWide Language Resources, Inc. (WWLR) of North Carolina asked the Department of the Army to reimburse it for the reasonable costs of filing and pursuing its protest of the agency’s award of a task order to Valiant Government Services, LLC. WWLR’s contention was that the agency failed to take prompt corrective action to resolve meritorious grounds for a protest. Background In 2017, the Army issued a request for task order proposals (RTOP) under the Department of Defense’s Language Interpretation and Translation Enterprise II Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract (DLITE...

Breweries and other businesses are currently under quarantine restrictions related to the outbreak of COVID-19. Breweries in Colorado can sell beer to go but cannot have on-site consumption. Because on-site consumption represents such a significant revenue stream for most breweries, everyone is looking for ways to stay afloat. One brand new possibility for Colorado Breweries is home delivery. On Friday, Governor Jerad Polis issued an executive order temporarily allowing breweries with a wholesale license to deliver beer directly to consumers. That order also permits restaurants to deliver...

On March 4, 2020, Secretary of the Air Force Barbara Barrett announced that the service will restart the base selection process for the U.S. Space Command, tossing out a list of finalists that heavily favored Colorado.

VA’s Intent to Offer Contracts for VOSBs Leads to Contention Bayaud Enterprises, Inc. and SourceAmerica filed legal action against the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in 2017. Bayaud is a (JWOD) eligible service provider that had contracts to provide medical transportation services, mailroom operations, and switchboard services at VA facilities in Colorado. SourceAmerica, a “central nonprofit agency,” represents 450 JWOD-eligible suppliers by helping them obtain, comply, with, and resolve contract disputes with federal agencies. Bayaud and SourceAmerica filed a Complaint against...

The effects of the explosion from the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010 are still present today. The explosion killed 11 people and leaked 3.19 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico on the ocean floor 42 miles off the coast of Louisiana. It is likely that much of the oil spilled is still present in the Gulf today. As a result of the explosion and spill, a settlement agreement was made between BP and class action representatives that claimed damages from the disaster. The agreement included provisions for business economic-loss (BEL) claims for those companies...

In 2015, Congress passed the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act. It was passed to improve the effectiveness of civil penalties and to maintain their deterrent effect. The Act requires agencies to adjust their level of monetary penalties and to make subsequent annual adjustments for inflation no later than January 15th of each year. The Labor Department issued an annual inflation adjustment of civil penalties in 2019. It calculates the annual adjustment based on the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U). The most recent adjustment is based on the percent change...

Trump Proposes Limiting Environmental Reviews and Eliminating Climate Change Considerations From NEPA On the 50th anniversary of the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”), the President has proposed making the first regulatory change to the Act in over 40 years. The White House Council on Environmental Quality (“CEQ”) recently proposed changes to NEPA. The Act requires environmental reviews of projects like highways and pipelines. The changes to NEPA will reduce the number of projects that would trigger environmental reviews, expand the number of project categories that can be exempted...