SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY

APPELLATE DIVISION

DOCKET NO. A-2769-17T3

UNITED SERVICES, INC.,

Plaintiff-Appellant,

v.

CITY OF NEWARK,

Defendant-Respondent.

____________________________

Argued September 10, 2019 – Decided

Before Judges Messano and Vernoia.

On appeal from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law 

Division, Essex County, Docket No. L-5010-16.

Gabriel Harold Halpern argued the cause for appellant 

(Pinilis Halpern LLP, attorneys; Gabriel Harold

Halpern, on the briefs).

Gary Scott Lipshutz, Assistant Corporation Counsel, 

argued the cause for respondent (Kenyatta K. Stewart, 

Corporation Counsel, attorney; Gary Scott Lipshutz, on 

the brief).

PER CURIAM

NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE

APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION

This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court." Although it is posted on the 

internet, this opinion is binding only on the parties in the case and its use in other cases is limited. R. 1:36-3.

October 9, 2019
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The City of Newark solicited bids for janitorial, maintenance, and 

germicide services at numerous public buildings in March 2016. As noted in 

our prior opinion, plaintiff United Services, Inc., had been performing these 

services since 2008 pursuant to emergency contract extensions. United Servs., 

Inc. v. City of Newark, No. A-2117-16 (App. Div. Apr. 17, 2017) (slip op. at

2).1 Newark received proposals from a number of vendors, including plaintiff, 

which submitted the lowest bid. Id. at 3. However, Newark rejected all bids, 

see N.J.S.A. 40A:11-13.2 (permitting the public entity to reject all bids under 

limited circumstances), and plaintiff filed suit. Id. at 4.

Thereafter, the city council passed a resolution authorizing Newark to 

utilize competitive contracting to procure the services rather than re-bid. See

N.J.S.A. 40A:11-4.1 (permitting local contracting units to use competing 

contracting in lieu of public bidding for certain services). Ibid. The new request 

for proposals (RFP) made significant changes to the prior bid specifications. Id.

at 4-5. In particular, the RFP divided the contract into eight smaller contracts, 

 

1 Although Rule 1:36-3 generally forbids citing an unpublished opinion, we do 

so here to provide a full understanding of the issues presented and pursuant to 

the exception in the rule permitting citation "to the extent required by res 

judicata, collateral estoppel, the single controversy doctrine or any other similar 

principle of law." See Badiali v. N.J. Mfrs. Ins. Grp., 429 N.J. Super. 121, 126 

n.4 (App. Div. 2012), aff'd, 220 N.J. 544 (2015).
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each one dealing with a limited group of municipal properties, and the RFP

required the awardee commit to minimum staffing levels and hours.

Plaintiff sought and obtained temporary restraints of the competitive 

contracting process while the lawsuit challenging Newark's rejection of all bids 

was pending. Id. at 5. When the Law Division judge vacated those restraints, 

we granted plaintiff leave to appeal, reversed the Law Division's order, and 

"enjoin[ed] Newark from making any award of the contract" pending resolution 

of plaintiff's complaint. Id. at 6, 11.

2

Apparently, discovery in the case proceeded at a snail's pace, although we 

do not ascribe fault for that to either party or the court. In any event, both 

plaintiff and Newark moved for summary judgment, and the judge heard oral 

argument on the cross-motions before issuing a comprehensive written opinion. 

The judge stated the issue was whether there was "a genuine dispute as to 

[a] material fact . . . whether [Newark's] rejection of all bids" was arbitrary or 

capricious, i.e., motivated by improper reasons or rather "supported by proper 

and identifiable reasons." See, e.g., CFG Health Sys., LLC v. Cty. of Essex, 

411 N.J. Super. 378, 386 (App. Div. 2010) ("If a public contracting agency 

 

2 We rejected, however, plaintiff's request to enjoin Newark from proceeding to 

solicit proposals under the RFP. Id. at 11.
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exercises its statutory authority to reject all bids, judicial review of that 

administrative decision is limited to determining whether it was 'arbitrary and 

capricious.'") (quoting Bodies by Lembo, Inc. v. Cty. of Middlesex, 286 N.J. 

Super. 298, 309 (App. Div. 1996)). He concluded plaintiff failed to raise a 

material factual dispute impugning Newark's stated reasons for rejecting all bids 

and proceeding through competitive contracting, even though contracts awarded 

through the RFP process were likely to cost the city more money than the amount 

of plaintiff's bid. 

The judge denied plaintiff's motion for summary judgment, granted 

Newark summary judgment, and entered two conforming orders. This appeal 

followed.

Plaintiff urges us to reverse the grant of summary judgment to Newark. 3 

It argues that there were genuine disputes of material facts as to the city's intent 

in rejecting all bids and adopting the competitive contracting process. For 

example, plaintiff cites deposition testimony of Newark's mayor, in which he 

acknowledged a desire not to award contracts to the same companies already 

providing the services, but rather to "break up some of these contracts and allow 

 

3 Plaintiff does not assert that the judge erroneously denied it summary 

judgment.
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local residents to have opportunities[.]" Plaintiff also points to the deposition 

testimony of Kevin Brown, vice-president of Service Employees International 

Union Local 32BJ (Local 32BJ), and others, demonstrating the union's role in 

formulating specifications included in the RFP that required negotiation of a 

"labor peace" agreement favorable to the union. Plaintiff alleges there was 

sufficient evidence demonstrating the union colluded with unsuccessful bidders 

to challenge any award of a contract to plaintiff.

4

Newark, on the other hand, argues nothing in the record supports 

plaintiff's claim that its stated reasons for rejecting bids and proceeding through 

competitive contracting were pretextual. It notes, for example, that the original 

bid specifications contained only "suggested" hours and levels of staffing, rather 

than the RFP's specifications requiring awardees' commitments to minimum

work hours and staffing levels. Newark notes there was nothing improper in its 

consultation with Local 32BJ prior to issuing the RFP specifications because the 

union was not a "potential vendor." See N.J.S.A. 40A:11-4.4(c) ("At no time 

during the proposal solicitation process shall the purchasing agent or counsel or 

administrator convey information, including price, to any potential vendor 

 

4 Plaintiff is non-unionized. The original bid specifications also included 

similar language regarding a labor peace agreement.
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which could confer an unfair advantage upon that vendor over any other 

potential vendor."). Lastly, Newark argues that given the passage of time and 

for other equitable reasons, the appeal is moot.

Without addressing its merits, we agree the appeal as moot. "Mootness is 

a threshold justiciability determination rooted in the notion that judicial power 

is to be exercised only when a party is immediately threatened with harm." 

Betancourt v. Trinitas Hosp., 415 N.J. Super. 301, 311 (App. Div. 2010) (citing 

Jackson v. Dep't of Corr., 335 N.J. Super. 227, 231 (App. Div. 2000)). "An issue 

is 'moot when our decision sought in a matter, when rendered, can have no 

practical effect on the existing controversy.'" Redd v. Bowman, 223 N.J. 87, 

104 (2015) (quoting Deutsche Bank Nat'l Tr. Co. v. Mitchell, 422 N.J Super. 

214, 221–22 (App. Div. 2011)). However, courts may decide such cases where 

the issues "are of substantial importance and are capable of repetition while 

evading review" unless determined by courts. Advance Elec. Co. v. 

Montgomery Twp. Bd. of Educ., 351 N.J. Super. 160, 166 (App. Div. 2002) 

(citing Mistrick v. Div. of Med. Assistance & Health Servs., 154 N.J. 158, 165 

(1998)). 

We acknowledge the public bidding process raises issues of substantial 

public importance. Id. at 166–67. In Advance Electric, we considered the 
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merits of an otherwise moot appeal because the plaintiff/unsuccessful bidder 

presented a facial challenge to legislation, arguing, in part, that the failure to 

adopt regulations governing the qualifications of subcontractors forced school 

boards to solicit separate bids for each portion of the work. Id. at 164, 167–68. 

We concluded that the "issue plainly is capable of frequent recurrence until such 

time as either subcontractor qualification regulations are specifically adopted 

. . . or until the issues that [the plaintiff] now raises are judicially resolved." Id.

at 167.

In Betancourt, we recognized the "public interest in decisions regarding 

the termination of life-sustaining medical treatments[,]" and that the case 

"involve[d] a situation that could evade judicial review." 415 N.J. Super. at 

313–14. Nevertheless, we dismissed the appeal as moot based on the "unusual 

circumstances of [the] case [that] ma[d]e a recurrence of this specific set of facts 

unlikely." Id. at 315, 319.

Here, the bid solicitation in 2016 was for a two-year contract, meaning 

that had the court voided the rejection of all bids and awarded the contract to 

plaintiff as the lowest responsible bidder, the agreement would have terminated 

more than one year ago. Instead, as a result of our stay, plaintiff has continued 

to this day to perform as it was performing prior to the bid rejection, i.e., under 
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emergency contract extensions. In addition, had it won the contract award in 

2016, plaintiff would have had to perform the contract for approximately $1.8 

million per year, i.e., the amount of its bid. Instead, plaintiff has been 

performing under successive no-bid emergency contracts of approximately 

$4.25 million per year. 

Plaintiff contended at oral argument that the appeal is not moot because if 

successful, it should be awarded counsel fees and litigation costs. Plaintiff cites 

no authority for this exception to the American rule, and we are unaware of any 

authority for this proposition in our Local Public Contract Law jurisprudence.

Plaintiff seemingly implies that it has been performing the work at 2008 

pricing levels, and, therefore, the appeal is not moot because it is entitled to 

recoup damages in the nature of monies it would have been paid had the contract 

been awarded under its 2016 bid. Of course, this ignores a well-recognized 

principle of our bidding jurisprudence specifically that "an aggrieved bidder is 

not entitled to damages [but] is limited to the remedy of injunctive relief[.]" 

Suburban Disposal, Inc. v. Twp. of Fairfield, 383 N.J. Super. 484, 495 (App. 

Div. 2006) (citing M.A. Stephen Constr. Co. v. Borough of Rumson, 125 N.J. 

Super. 67, 76 (App. Div. 1973)). And, as already noted, plaintiff is hard-pressed 

to argue that it suffered financial damages by performing the contract under 
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emergency extensions that provided payments more than twice the amount of 

plaintiff's 2016 bid.

In short, the original issue presented by plaintiff's appeal, i.e., whether in 

2016 it should have been awarded a two-year contract to perform janitorial, 

maintenance, and germicide services at Newark's public buildings for 

approximately $1.8 million per year has been fully resolved without the need for 

our judgment. See Betancourt, 415 N.J. Super. at 311 ("A case is technically 

moot when the original issue presented has been resolved, at least concerning 

the parties who initiated the litigation.") (quoting DeVesa v. Dorsey, 134 N.J. 

420, 428 (1993) (Pollock, J., concurring)). Plaintiff has in fact performed the 

contract services for more than two years since it commenced its lawsuit in the 

Law Division and for more money than it would have received if it had received 

the contract pursuant to the 2016 bid. The appeal is moot. 

The appeal is dismissed.