CBCA 7326

DENIED: January 26, 2023 CBCA 7326, 7327 MONBO GROUP INTERNATIONAL, Appellant, v. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, Respondent. Dee Monbo, President of Monbo Group International, Owings Mills, MD, appearing for Appellant. Anastasia Hautanen and Tami S. Hagberg, Office of the General Counsel, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC, counsel for Respondent. Before Board Judges GOODMAN, DRUMMOND, and KULLBERG. DRUMMOND, Board Judge. These appeals1 by appellant, Monbo Group International (MGI), concern task orders issued by respondent, the National Library of Medicine, Department of Health and Human Services (NLM or agency). The agency placed these task orders pursuant to MGI’s government-wide acquisition contract with the General Services Administration (GSA contract) for professional services. In CBCA 7326, MGI alleges breach of contract in connection with the agency’s failure to exercise option years for which MGI seeks damages totaling $775,680. In CBCA 7327, MGI seeks $99,046.50 for an alleged unpaid invoice. 1 CBCA 7326 and 7327 are consolidated for this decision. CBCA 7326, 7327 2 The agency filed separate motions to dismiss each appeal for failure to state a claim, which the Board treats as motions for summary judgment. MGI opposes the agency’s motions. For the reasons explained below, we grant the agency’s motions and deny these appeals.2 Background On September 30, 2020, the agency awarded to “Monbo, Dee” fixed-price task order number 75N97020F00158 (order 158), pursuant to MGI’s GSA contract. Order 158, effective September 30, 2020, required “Monbo, Dee” to provide professional acquisition services for a one-year period from September 30, 2020, to September 29, 2021. The total cost of the services was $193,920. MGI’s president, Dee Monbo, and a contracting officer for the agency signed the order. Order 158 included, inter alia, an option provision that stated: Unless the Government exercises its option pursuant to the OPTION PROVISIONS clause . . . , this purchase order consists only of the Basic Requirements as defined in the Statement of Work. a. FAR [Federal Acquisition Regulation] 52.217-8, Option to Extend Services (NOV 1999) The Contracting Officer may exercise the option by written notice to the Contractor within thirty (30) calendar days prior to the expiration date of the delivery order. The statement of work specified a one-year term with no options. Order 158 also incorporated the GSA contract, which included FAR clause 52.214-4, Contract Terms and Conditions – Commercial Items (Jan 2017) (Deviation – Feb 2007) (Deviation – Feb 2018). This clause addressed changes to the GSA contract requirements, noting that “[c]hanges in the terms and conditions . . . may be made only by written agreement of the parties.” On February 8, 2021, Ms. Monbo advised the contracting officer, via email, that order 158 had been awarded in error to “Monbo, Dee,” rather than MGI, the holder of the GSA 2 The parties have filed numerous non-jurisdictional motions. This decision renders those motions moot. CBCA 7326, 7327 3 contract. In July 2021, the agency emailed to MGI order number 75N97021F00076 (order 76) to replace order 158. Order 76 changed the vendor name to MGI and the contract type to “Time and Material or Labor Hour.” Order 76 stated the same one-year performance period as in order 158. The total hours were limited to 3840, and the amount was not to exceed $193,920. Ms. Monbo signed and returned order 76 on July 12, 2021. Several weeks later, on July 28, 2021, Ms. Monbo signed and returned a bilateral modification for order 158 which, in part, stated: The purpose of this modification is to Terminate for the Government’s convenience; thereby cancelling this order and replacing it with . . . order 76. All funds associated with this order will be deobligated, reducing the order to $0. As the end of the first year performance period approached, the agency advised MGI that order 76 would expire on September 29, 2021.