Government Properly Denied Site Access, Terminated Contracts

The government's termination of mail delivery contracts was upheld by the Postal Service Board of Contract Appeals because the terminations were justified by the contractor's failure to perform. Due to the contractor's disruptive behavior, the government denied the contractor access to the postal facility, which prevented the contractor from personally performing her two mail delivery contracts. The government subsequently terminated the contracts after the contractor failed to perform the delivery services using hired drivers. The contractor claimed the terminations were an abuse of discretion, arguing her behavior did not merit denying access to the postal facility, and the government hindered performance by failing to approve her proposed replacement employees or give them temporary approval. The contractor claimed her failure to perform was excused by the government's refusal to allow her to hire a potential employee due to a conflict of interest. In addition, the contractor alleged the government committed acts of bad faith, including falsified reports of her prior behavior, intentional mishandling of employee screening applications, hostile relations on the part of other postal employees, and biased hiring and management decisions.

However, the government properly exercised its discretion in terminating the contracts. Given the contractor's documented history of volatile confrontations with other postal employees, the contractor's hostile comments after an acrimonious confrontation with a postal employee warranted the government's decision to deny the contractor access to the site. Furthermore, the government was not at fault for the contractor's failure to obtain clearance for her hired drivers. The record showed the contractor had an opportunity to resolve problems with her drivers' clearance applications and their failure to receive temporary approvals, but failed to do so. The government's refusal to allow the contractor to hire a particular employee due to a conflict of interest was no excuse for the contractor's failure to perform, because the employee was only available to work one day per week. Finally, the contractor failed to establish any conduct evidencing bad faith. (Michelle R. P'Pool, PSBCA, ¶92,258)

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