Court Opinion

ID: 9371678
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-02-16 18:00:08.965114+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:16:29.426715
License: Public Domain

ARMED SERVICES BOARD OF CONTRACT APPEALS
 Appeal of -                                   )
                                               )
 Heart & Core LLC                              )    ASBCA No. 63403
                                               )
 Under Contract Nos. FA7000-18-D-0004          )

 APPEARANCE FOR THE APPELLANT:                      Ms. Jen Swendseid
                                                     President
                                                     Minnetonka, MN

 APPEARANCES FOR THE GOVERNMENT:                    Caryl A. Potter, Esq.
                                                     Air Force Deputy Chief Trial Attorney
                                                    Isabelle P. Cutting, Esq.
                                                    Maj Alissa J. Schrider, USAF
                                                     Trial Attorneys

OPINION BY ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE MELNICK DENYING APPELLANT’S
                REQUEST FOR RECONSIDERATION

       Appellant, Heart & Core LLC, has moved for reconsideration of the Board’s
January 11, 2023, decision denying the appeal. Heart & Core had elected to conduct
the appeal under the Board’s Rule 12.2, Small Claims (Expedited) procedure and the
parties agreed to brief the matter under Board Rule 11. A response from the
government is deemed unnecessary.

        Heart & Core was awarded firm-fixed price contracts to provide, among other
things, comforters and bathrobes for the United States Air Force Academy and sought
price increases to account for unexpected cost increases. The Board denied the appeal
given the fixed price nature of the contracts.

        “Reconsideration might be appropriate if the request ‘is based upon newly
discovered evidence, mistakes in the findings of fact, or errors of law.’” Green Valley
Co., ASBCA No. 61275, 18-1 BCA ¶ 37,044 at 180,330 (quoting Alliance Roofing &
Sheet Metal, Inc., ASBCA No. 59663, 15-1 BCA ¶ 36,063). However, reconsideration
is not an opportunity for a party to reargue its position. Id. Motions for reconsideration
are granted when we have made an oversight affecting the outcome of the appeal.
Kellogg Brown & Root Servs, Inc., ASBCA Nos. 57530, 58161, 19-1 BCA ¶ 37,321
at 181,535.

       Heart & Core complains that the Board’s decision did not adequately address a
reference in its Rule 11 reply brief to generalized government communications about
  the impact of inflationary pressures upon small contractors and possible solutions that
  might be mutually agreeable. Heart & Core is simply rearguing its case, which did not
  establish contractual entitlement to recovery. It has not persuaded us that we have
  made an oversight that affects the outcome of the appeal. Accordingly, the motion for
  reconsideration is denied.

         Dated: February 1, 2023

                                                  MARK A. MELNICK
                                                  Administrative Judge
                                                  Armed Services Board
                                                  of Contract Appeals

      I certify that the foregoing is a true copy of the Opinion and Decision of the
Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals in ASBCA No. 63403, Appeal of Heart &
Core LLC, rendered in conformance with the Board’s Charter.

      Dated: February 1, 2023

                                                 PAULLA K. GATES-LEWIS
                                                 Recorder, Armed Services
                                                 Board of Contract Appeals

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