The state Highway and Transportation Department cannot invoke sovereign immunity to shield itself from a lawsuit by a North Little Rock janitorial company seeking to invalidate a $380,000 contract awarded to one of its competitors, a judge has ruled.
State lawyers say they'll appeal the Wednesday ruling by Pulaski County Circuit Judge Alice Gray to the Arkansas Supreme Court. Her written order codified the decision she announced after a November hearing.
O.J.'s Service Two Inc. filed suit against the Highway Department in March, claiming that the agency did not follow its bid rules when it awarded the cleaning contract to Razorclean Maids Inc. in February.
O.J.'s claims Razorclean did not meet the department's specifications for the job and sued when the department refused to reconsider its decision to award the contract to Razorclean.
O.J.'s asked Gray to force the agency to award the year-long contract to the lowest qualified bidder, which would be O.J.'s, with a $439,847 offer.
The company had held the contract for years before Razorclean took it over this year. The Razorclean contract expires in February unless the department elects to enact its option to extend it a year.
O.J.'s attorney, Tiffany Flock, said Friday that the company has asked the judge to force the department to stop soliciting bids and awarding contracts for the cleaning job and all similar services and commodities until the agency can show it is complying with the Arkansas procurement laws.
Sovereign immunity is a provision of the state constitution that shields the state and its agencies from almost all litigation.
But O.J's lawyers argued that the immunity protection doesn't apply in this case because the Highway Department did not follow procurement statutes when it gave the contract to Razorclean. It is a North Little Rock company owned by Madre Hill, the former Razorback running back and former Oakland Raider.
Razorclean is not a party to the suit but had sued O.J.'s, claiming harassment. The parties settled that litigation in June after O.J.'s agreed to stop contacting Razorclean's references as part of its efforts to challenge the department's decision.
The contract is to clean the Highway Department's buildings daily for a year, ending Feb. 18: the sign shop, equipment and procurement, and materials building at Baseline and Sibley Hole roads; the central office, its annex, and the transportation planning and policy building at 10324 Interstate 30; District Six headquarters at 8900 Mabelvale Pike; and facilities management at 8725 Mabelvale Pike.
Metro on 12/13/2014