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Oready
(2025)
Case details
Full caption
Oready, LLC (2)
Country
United States
Jurisdiction
Federal
Decided
2025
Disposition
Dismissed
441
G
St.
N.W.
Washington,
DC
20548
Comptroller
General
of
the
United
States
Decision
Matter
of:
Oready
,
LLC
File:
B-
423649;
B
-
423650;
B
-
423670;
B
-
423670.2
Date:
September
25,
2025
Mi
chael
Farro
for
the
protester.
William
B.
Blake,
Esq.,
Department
of
the
Interior,
for
the
agency.
Paula
A.
Williams
,
Esq.,
and
Evan
D.
Wesser,
Esq.,
Office
of
the
General
Counsel,
GAO,
participated
in
the
preparation
of
the
decision.
DIGEST
Protest
s
challenging
the
terms
of
multiple
solicitations
are
dismissed
as
an
abuse
of
GAO’s
bid
protest
process
where
the
protester’s
repeated
use
of
non-
existent
citations
or
decisions
in
its
protest
submissions
undermines
the
integrity
of
GAO’s
bid
protest
forum
.
DECISION
Or
eady,
LLC,
a
small
business
located
in
Las
Vegas,
Nevada,
protests
the
terms
of
three
request
s
for
quotations
(RFQs)
issued
by
the
Department
of
the
Interior,
Bureau
of
Indian
Education
(BIE),
for
various
educational
support
services.
The
protester
principally
argues
that
the
key
personnel
requirements
in
each
solicitation
are
unduly
restrictive
of
competition.
We
find
that
the
protester
included
citations
to
non-
existent
decisions
or
materially
false
representations
of
the
factual
or
legal
issues
addressed
in
the
cited
decisions
in
its
pleadings
which
we
hereinafter
refer
to
as
non-
existent
citations
or
decisions
.
We
dismiss
the
protests
for
abuse
of
GAO’s
bid
protest
process
based
on
the
protester’s
repeated
submission
of
non-
existent
citations
or
decisions
to
support
its
protest
.
BACKGROUND
The
stated
objective
of
these
procurements
is
to
obtain
educational
support
services
at
various
schools.
By
way
of
background,
on
May
9,
2025,
Oready
filed
a
pre-
award
Page
2
B
-
423649
et
al.
protest
challenging
the
terms
of
RFQ
No.
140A2325Q0137
(RFQ
0137)
1
for
a
school
counselor
at
the
Pine
Ridge
School
in
Pine
Ridge,
South
Dakota,
which
we
docketed
as
B
-
423524.
In
that
protest,
Oready
alleged
that
the
key
personnel
requirements
were
unduly
restrictive
of
competition,
and
we
subsequently
dismissed
the
protest
as
academic
based
on
the
agency’s
proposed
corrective
action.
Oready,
LLC
,
B
-
423524,
June
5,
2025
(unpublished
d
ecision).
However,
i
n
dismissing
the
protest
,
we
specifically
noted
that
the
a
gency
had
identified
three
of
Oready’s
citations
to
decisions
from
our
Office
that
were
either
fictitious
or
materially
inaccurate.
Id.
In
this
regard,
we
stated:
While
we
need
not
resolve
whether
the
citations
provided
in
the
initial
protest
were
accurate
in
light
of
the
agency’s
cancellation
of
the
challenged
solicitation,
the
protester
is
specifically
advised
that
the
submission
of
filings
to
our
Office
in
future
protests
with
citations
to
non-
existent
authority
may
result
in
the
imposition
of
appropriate
sanctions.
See
Raven
Investigations
&
Security
Consulting,
LLC
,
B
-
423447,
May
7,
2025,
2025
CPD
¶
112.
Id.
at
2
n.1.
Thereafter,
the
agency
issued
an
amendment
to
RFQ
0137
clarifying,
among
other
things,
the
key
personnel
requirements.
On
June
26,
Oready
again
filed
a
pre-
award
protest
challenging
RFQ
0137
a
lleging
that
the
amended
key
personnel
requirement
s
w
ere
unduly
restrictive
of
competition.
We
docketed
this
protest
as
B
-
423524.2,
which
we
subsequently
dismissed
as
academic
based
on
the
agency’s
voluntary
proposed
corrective
action.
Oready,
LLC
,
B
-
423524.2,
Aug.
13,
2025,
2025
CPD
¶
194
at
4.
However,
in
that
decision
we
also
addressed
the
question
of
additional
citations
to
non-
existent
decisions
or
materially
false
representations
of
the
factual
or
legal
issues
addressed
in
the
cited
decisions
in
Oready’s
pleadings
filed
with
our
Office.
See
,
id.
a
t
5
-
6.
W
e
requested
that
Oready
address
d
iscrepancies
as
to
five
cited
decisions
and
provide
copies
of
the
cited
decisions
with
its
response.
Id.
at
6.
In
its
response,
Oready
stated:
The
research
was
conducted
in-
house
by
our
small,
non-
attorney
team
using
publicly
available
sources
(
e.g
.,
GAO
digests/abstracts
and
internal
templates)
under
tight
deadlines,
without
legal
subscription
databases.
Errors
arose
from
manual
mismatches
in
secondary
summaries.
We
have
implemented
peer
-
review,
primary
-
source
reliance,
and
gao.gov
URL
verification
to
prevent
recurrence.
1
For
ease
of
reference,
we
refer
to
the
RFQ
using
the
last
four
numbers
of
each
solicitation.
Citations
to
the
solicitations
are
to
copies
provided
with
the
underlying
protests
filed
by
the
protester.
Page
3
B
-
423649
et
al.
Id.
at
7.
Our
Office
reviewed
the
protester’s
explanations
and
concluded
that
“Oready’s
patently
erroneous
citations
are
far
removed
from
mere
typographical
or
scrivener’s
errors,
and
instead,
bear
the
hallmarks
of
the
use
of
a
large-
language
model
or
other
artificial
intelligence
(AI)
without
adequate
verification
that
the
generated
results
were
accurate.
”
Id.
2
As
we
explained
in
our
decision,
the
key
problem
wa
s
not
whether
the
protester
used
AI
or
indeed
any
other
means
of
research
to
support
its
protest
arguments;
the
problem
wa
s
that
the
protester
did
not
take
care
to
verify
its
research
and
ensure
its
citations
and
descriptions
of
cases
were
accurate.
The
fact
that
the
protester
was
not
represented
by
counsel
did
not
relieve
it
from
this
responsibility.
In
this
regard,
we
make
no
distinction
between
protests
filed
by
those
represented
by
counsel
and
protests
filed
by
those
not
represented
by
counsel.
In
order
to
satisfy
our
statutory
mandate
to
resolve
protests
expeditiously
and
to
maintain
our
role
as
a
meaningful,
efficient
protest
forum,
we
stated
that
all
parties
are
expected
to
prepare
and
present
their
cases
carefully
and
diligently.
Id.
,
citing
Wolverton
Prop.
Mgmt.,
LLC
--Recon.
,
B
-
415295.4,
June
6,
2018,
2018
CPD
¶
205
at
3.
In
sum,
we
again
cautioned
Oready
that
failure
to
prepare
and
present
its
protest(s)
carefully
and
diligently
m
ight
result
in
imposition
of
sanctions
by
our
Office
.
Oready,
LLC
,
supra
at
8.
Turning
then
to
these
three
pending
pre-
award
protests
,
Oready
primarily
alleges
that
the
key
personnel
requirement
s
in
each
solicitation
were
unduly
restrictive
of
competition
.
Oready’s
first
protest
concerns
RFQ
No.
140A2325Q0062
(RFQ
0062)
which
was
issued
on
February
7,
2025,
p
ursuant
to
the
acquisition
of
commercial
items
procedures
of
F
ederal
Acquisition
Regulation
(FAR)
part
12,
and
the
simplified
acquisition
procedures
of
FAR
subpart
13.5.
RFQ
0062
at
3.
3
As
amended,
t
h
e
RFQ
so
ught
quotations
on
an
unrestricted
basis
for
a
speech
l
anguage
t
herapist
a
t
St.
2
We
cited
several
decisions
by
federal
courts
in
which
the
use
of
AI
was
addressed.
See
,
e.g.
,
Powhatan
Cnty.
Sch.
Bd.
v.
Skinger
,
No.
3:24cv874,
2025
U.S.
Dist.
LEXIS
104564
at
*21
(E.D.
Va.
June
2,
2025)
(“The
issue
of
AI
programs
populating
and
citing
to
fake
or
nonexistent
legal
authority,
what
has
become
known
as
AI
‘
hallucinations,
’
is
an
issue
for
courts
that
is
becoming
far
too
common.”);
Versant
Funding
LLC
v.
Teras
Breakbulk
Ocean
Navigation
Enters.,
LLC
,
No.
17-cv-
81140,
2025
U.S.
Dist.
LEXIS
98418
at
*11
(S.D.
Fl.
May
20,
2025)
(explaining
that
“there
is
nothing
inherently
wrong
with
an
attorney
properly
and
competently
utilizing
AI
or
any
of
its
subsets
to
practice
law
or
litigate
cases,”
but
noting
that
“the
evolving
technology
has
many
glitches
(including
hallucinations)
and
does
not
always
work
properly
or
as
expected,”
and
“[t]his
is
why
close
and
careful
attorney
supervision,
fact
-
checking
and
citation-
checking
are
absolute
necessities
when
utilizing
AI
or
any
of
its
subsets”).
See
Oready,
LLC
,
B-
423524.2,
supra
at
7.
3
RFQ
0062
was
amended
four
times.
Unless
otherwise
noted,
citations
to
the
RFQ
in
this
decision
refer
to
the
initial
RFQ.
Page
4
B
-
423649
et
al.
Stephens
Indian
School
located
in
St.
Stephens,
Wyoming.
RFQ
0062
amend.
1
at
1
.
The
solicitation
designated
the
speech
language
therapist
as
key
personnel.
RFQ
0062
at
5.
Oready’s
protest
of
this
solicitation
was
docketed
by
our
Office
as
B
-
423649.
Next,
o
n
May
22,
2025,
the
agency
i
ssued
RFQ
No.
140A2325Q0108
(RFQ
0108)
on
an
unrestricted
basis
pursuant
to
the
procedures
of
FAR
part
12
and
FAR
sub
part
13.5
for
the
services
of
an
o
ccupational
t
herapist
at
the
John
F.
Kennedy
Day
School
located
in
W
hite
River,
Arizona.
RFQ
0108
at
4.
The
solicitation
designated
the
occupational
therapist
as
key
personnel
.
Id.
at
6.
Oready’s
protest
of
this
solicitation
was
docketed
by
our
Office
as
B
-
423650.
Finally,
on
June
16,
2025,
the
agency
issued
RFQ
No.
140A2325Q0173
(RFQ
0173)
,
as
a
small
business
set
-
aside
pursuant
to
the
procedures
of
FAR
part
12
and
FAR
subpart
13.5,
fo
r
the
services
of
a
school
psychologist
at
the
Havasupai
Elementary
School
,
located
in
Supai,
Arizona.
RFQ
0173
at
5.
The
solicitation
designated
the
school
psychologist
as
key
personnel.
Id.
at
7
.
Oready’s
i
nitial
and
supplemental
p
rotests
of
this
solicitation
were
docketed
by
our
Office
as
B
-
423670.
1
,
B
-
423670.2.
Relevant
here,
each
RFQ’s
submission
instructions
require
vendors
to
include
certain
information
in
their
technical
quotations
regarding
their
proposed
key
personnel
.
For
example,
RFQ
0062
instructed
vendors
to
provide
the
following
information
for
the
speech
language
therapist
designated
as
key
personnel
:
•
Availability
&
Commitment:
The
contractor
shall
provide
a
signed
and
dated
commitment
letter
to
include
length
of
time
with
the
quote.
•
Onsite
Service:
The
key
personnel
commitment
shall
clearly
address
its
ability
to
provide
onsite
service.
•
If
identified
key
personnel
are
not
currently
employed
by
your
firm,
a
written
statement
signed
by
the
individual
must
accompany
the
resume
indicating
the
individual's
commitment
to
join
your
firm
as
an
employee
in
the
event
of
an
award.
Quoters
are
cautioned
to
verify
the
continued
availability
of
individuals
propose
d.
•
Experience
&
Qualifications:
The
contractor
shall
provide
resume,
certifications,
and
direct
contact
information
of
key
personnel
with
the
quote.
Key
personnel
shall
possess
the
necessary
knowledge,
skills,
qualifications,
and
ability
to
perform
the
service
being
requested.
The
resume
shall
clearly
[
demonstrat
e]
such
qualifications
and
experience
providing
Speech-
Language
Therapy
service
in
school
setting.
RFQ
0062
(
B
-
423649)
at
22.
The
key
personnel
requirements
described
in
RFQ
0108,
for
an
occupational
therapist
,
and
in
RFQ
0173,
for
a
school
psychologist,
are
substantially
similar
,
although
not
Page
5
B
-
423649
et
al.
identical
,
to
the
above-
quoted
RFQ
language.
See
RFQ
0108
(B
-
423650)
at
25,
26;
RF
Q
0173
(
B
-
423670.
1,
B
-
423670.2)
at
26.
DISCUSSION
Oready
raises
two
primary
arguments
to
the
terms
of
the
RFQs
:
(1)
the
requirement
for
vendors
to
submit
signed
commitment
letters
from
non-
employees,
binding
them
to
post
-
award
availability
for
120
days,
is
commercially
unreasonable
and
restricts
competition
;
and
(2)
the
requirement
t
hat
vendors
identify
and
provide
direct
contact
information
for
key
personnel
prior
to
award
is
unreasonable
since,
in
its
view,
such
a
requirement
“
exceeds
the
boundaries
set
by
FAR
37.104
[
governing
personal
services
contract
s
which
by
its
express
terms
,
or
as
administered,
makes
contractor
personnel
appear
to
be
government
employees
]
and
improperly
shifts
performance
risk
to
individual
workers
rather
than
holding
the
contractor
accountable.”
Protest
at
2
.
As
a
threshold
issue,
the
agency
request
s
dismissal
of
each
protest
,
arguing
that
Oready’s
protests
advance
speculative
and
conclusory
arguments
that
were
either
legally
or
factual
ly
insufficient
,
that
the
protester
failed
to
establish
competitive
prejudice,
and
fail
ed
to
establish
its
interested
party
status
.
S
ee
generally
,
Req.
for
Dismissal
at
2
-
8
.
We
reviewed
the
agency’s
request
for
dismissals
and
the
protester’s
objections
thereto
and
deferred
ruling
on
the
agency’s
request
for
dismissal
s
at
that
time
.
We
instruct
ed
the
agency
to
file
its
agency
report
in
response
to
each
protest
and
Oready
to
file
its
comments
in
response
to
the
agency
reports.
R
esp.
to
R
eq.
for
Dismissal.
Thereafter,
during
a
review
of
Oready’s
protests
and
its
subsequent
filings
,
our
Office
id
entified
three
groups
of
problematic
citations
in
the
protester’s
filings.
Specifically,
across
Oready’s
three
protests
we
identified
filings
that
:
(1)
refer
to
fabricated
or
non-
existent
decisions
;
(2)
fabricated
or
non-
existent
legal
conclusions
of
decisions
issued
by
our
Office
;
or
(3)
otherwise
objectively
do
not
stand
for
the
factual
or
legal
proposition
s
asserted
by
Oready.
See
,
Electronic
Protest
Docketing
System
(Dkt.)
No.
11,
GAO
Notice
of
Problematic
Citations
&
Req.
for
Briefing,
July
30,
2025.
In
the
first
group
of
citations
as
the
following
representative
examples
reflect,
many
of
the
protester’s
citations
are
simply
non-
existent
or
fabricated.
Specifically,
either
the
decisions
themsel
ves
or
the
material
facts
and
legal
issues
addressed
in
the
cited
decisions
do
not
ex
ist
and
are
entirely
fabricated,
as
they
do
not
correlate
to
any
existing
GAO
bid
protest
decision.
Taking
one
example,
the
protester
argued
that
“[w]here
a
solicitation
is
amended
post
-
submission
to
accommodate
a
single
bidder,
GAO
has
held
that
such
actions
are
improper
unless
clearly
justified
and
executed
in
a
way
that
preserves
meaningful
competition,”
and
cited
the
following
purported
decisions
of
our
Office
for
support
“
Trailboss
Enter
prises,
Inc.
,
B
-
417212.2,
and
System
Studies
&
Simulation
,
Inc.
,
B
-
416693.”
Protest
at
2.
Page
6
B
-
423649
et
al.
The
problem
is
that
neither
of
these
decisions
exist;
neither
“B”
file
number
was
ever
issued
or
utilized
by
our
Office.
4
More
concerning,
w
hen
our
Office
sought
an
explanation
of
these
discrepancies
from
Oready
,
the
protester
represented
that
these
were,
respectively,
a
“
[
t
]
ypographic
error”
and
“error
,
”
without
any
further
explanation
for
how
these
fabricated
case
citations
were
merely
scrivener’s
error
s.
Dkt.
No.
8,
Resp.
to
GAO
Req
.
for
Briefing
at
2.
We
find
this
explanation
unpersuasive.
The
second
set
of
non-
existent
citations
or
decisions
involve
citations
that
merge
the
name
of
a
protester
from
a
published
decision
with
a
B
-
file
number
from
another
published
decision
where
the
B
-
file
number
involve
s
matters
that
stand
for
entirely
different
facts
or
propositions
of
law
.
In
this
regard,
merging
the
name
of
a
protest
er
from
one
published
decision
with
the
B
-
file
number
from
a
separate
published
decision,
results
in
the
creation
of
a
citation
to
a
nonexistent
decision.
A
s
an
example,
in
its
opposition
to
the
agency’s
first
request
for
dismissal
of
protest
B
-
423
649,
the
protester
argued
that
“[i]t
is
improper
for
an
agency
to
use
unstated
evaluation
criteria
as
a
pass/fail
standard”
and
cites
for
support
to
“
JRS
Staffing
Services
,
B
-
409407
(Apr.
2,
2014).”
See
Dkt.
No
.
6,
Opp.
t
o
Req.
for
Dismissal
at
4.
Our
Office
has
issued
numerous
decisions
utilizing
the
name
JRS
Staffing
Services
,
but
we
have
not
issued
the
decision
cited
by
the
protester
.
See
e.g.
,
JRS
Staffing
Services
,
B
-
408202,
Jul
y
16,
2013,
2013
CPD
¶
175;
JRS
Staffing
Services
--Costs
,
B
-
410708.3,
Nov.
9,
2015,
2015
CPD
¶
349.
In
addition,
t
he
cited
B
-
number,
B
-
409407,
does
not
involve
JRS
Staffing
Services
or
any
matter
involving
unstated
evaluation
criteria.
Rather,
the
cited
B
-
number
relates
to
our
decision
in
JCMS
,
B
-
409407,
Apr.
8,
2014,
2014
CPD
¶
125.
In
that
decision,
our
Office
dismissed
a
protest
challenging
an
award
made
allegedly
below
cost
because
whether
a
bidder
can
perform,
even
where
the
bid
price
is
below
cost,
involves
the
agency’s
affirmative
responsibility
determination
of
that
bidder’s
responsibility
,
which
we
generally
will
not
review
absent
inapplicable
circumstances.
The
words
“unstated
evaluation
criteria”
do
not
appear
in
the
decision
utilizing
the
B
-
file
number
B
-
409407.
In
sum,
our
Office
has
not
issued
a
decision
using
the
name
JRS
Staffing
Services
citing
the
B
-
file
number
,
B
-
409407,
and
the
decision
using
that
B
-
file
number
does
not
stand
for
the
proposition
cited
by
the
protester.
When
pressed
for
an
explanation
by
our
Office
for
how
a
fabricated
decision
supported
its
protest
argument
s,
the
protester
alleged
that
the
“
[h]olding
supports
unstated
criteria.”
Dkt.
No.
8,
Resp.
to
GAO
Req
.
for
Briefing
at
2.
Setting
aside
the
obvious
fact
that
a
nonexistent
decision’s
conclusion
could
not
reasonably
support
the
protester’s
argument,
as
noted
above,
nowhere
in
that
decision
do
the
words
“unstated
evaluation
criteria”
appear
.
T
he
protester’s
explanation
is
unpersuasive
since
an
objective
reading
4
Our
Office
did
issue
a
decision
in
Alexandra
Constr.,
Inc.
,
B
-
417212,
Apr.
2,
2019,
2019
CPD
¶
132,
but
that
decision
involved
a
post
-
award
protest
challenging
the
reasonableness
of
an
agency’s
evaluation
of
experience
and
past
performance
and
is
not
germane
to
any
allegation
raised
by
Oready.
Page
7
B
-
423649
et
al.
of
the
decision
should
have
led
the
protester
to
realize
it
did
not
stand
for
this
proposition
.
This
type
of
misrepresentation
of
GAO’s
decisions
evidences
a
gross
disregard
for
our
bid
protest
process
,
w
hich
relies
on
the
parties
identifying
accurate
and
relevant
legal
authorities
.
5
In
this
regard,
not
only
did
the
protester
fabricate
a
citation
for
a
decision
that
does
not
exist
by
merging
an
unrelated
party’s
name
with
a
citation
for
an
entirely
unrelated
protest
involving
legally
and
factually
distinct
issues,
but
it
then
falsely
generated
a
purported
conclusion
based
on
the
fictitious
citation
that
it
fabricated.
Such
conduct
is
abusive.
See,
e.g.
,
United
States
v.
Hayes
,
763
F.
Supp.
3d
1054,
1065-
66
(
E.D.
Cal.
2025)
(sanctioning
counsel
where
counsel
in
its
brief
submitted
a
citation
includ
ing
a
case
attributed
to
the
wrong
party,
but
a
real
citation
to
a
different,
unrelated
case
issued
by
a
different
court
).
With
regard
to
the
thir
d
set
of
flawed
citation
s
at
issue,
the
protester
in
some
cases
cited
existing
decisions
,
but
fabricated
the
relevant
fac
t
s
and
conclusions
of
such
decision
s.
For
example,
in
protest
B
-
423670,
Oready
argued
that
“[i]n
Kathpal
Technologies,
Inc.
,
B
-
291637.2
(Apr.
10,
2003),
GAO
sustained
a
protest
where
the
agency
required
letters
of
intent
without
demonstrating
that
such
a
requirement
was
necessary
to
meet
the
government’s
needs.”
Protest
(B
-
423670)
at
1.
Our
Office
did
issue
a
decision
in
Kathpal
Technologies,
Inc.
,
B
-
291637.2,
Apr.
10,
2003,
2003
CPD
¶
69;
that
decision
,
however,
had
nothing
to
do
with
letters
of
intent
or
any
other
allegedly
unduly
restrictive
solicitation
requirement
.
R
ather
than
sustaining
a
protest
based
on
a
failure
of
the
agency
to
demonstrate
why
letters
of
intent
should
be
a
requirement
of
the
procurement,
the
decision
in
fact
denied
a
post
-
award
challenge
to
the
agency’s
evaluation
of
past
performance.
These
legal
concepts
are
entirely
different
;
the
words
“letters
of
intent”
do
not
appear
in
the
Kathpal
decision.
In
response
to
our
inquiry,
Oready
conceded
,
without
further
elaboration,
that
the
citation
w
as
“[e]rroneous.”
Dkt.
No.
8,
Resp.
to
GAO
Req
.
for
Briefing.
Our
Office
finds
no
basis
to
conclude
that
this
was
a
mere
clerical
error
by
an
unrepresented
party;
the
record
demonstrates
that
the
protester
used
fabricated
facts
and
legal
discussion
to
advance
its
claims.
Again,
Oready’s
actions
in
these
recent
protests
demonstrate
its
reckless
disregard
in
advancing
non-
existent
citations
or
decisions
in
its
protest
submissions.
5
We
additionally
note
that
in
its
opposition
to
the
agency’s
first
request
for
dismissal
in
protest
B
-
423650,
Oready
argues
that
“[i]t
is
improper
for
an
agency
to
use
unstated
evaluation
criteria
as
a
pass/fail
standard,”
citing
to
“
JRS
Staffing
Services
,
B
-
409407.7,
Apr.
2,
2014,
2014
CPD
¶
116.”
See
Dkt.
No.
5,
Opp.
t
o
Req.
For
Dismissal,
at
3
-
4.
No
such
B
-
number
exists.
As
to
the
CPD
Reporter,
that
citation
is
for
Government
and
Military
Certification
Sys.,
Inc.
,
B
-
409420,
Apr.
2,
2014,
2014
CPD
¶
116,
a
decision
where
our
Office
denied
a
challenge
to
the
terms
of
a
solicitation
for
recertification
audit
services
where
the
agency
adequately
explained
the
rationale
for
the
restrictive
specifications
with
regard
to
contractor
accreditation.
In
response
to
our
inquiry,
the
protester
merely
offered
that
the
error
was
a
“[t
]ypo.”
Dkt.
No.
8,
Resp.
to
GAO
Req
.
for
Briefing.
Page
8
B
-
423649
et
al.
As
addressed
above,
w
e
directed
t
he
protester
to
provide
an
explanation
for
the
non-
existent
citations
or
decisions
identified
by
our
Office
and
to
provide
copies
of
the
cited
decisions
with
its
response.
GAO
Email
to
Oready,
July
30,
2025;
see
also
Dkt.
No.
11.
In
addition
to
the
short
responses
reflected
in
the
representative
examples
above,
Oready’s
response
states,
in
relevant
part,
as
follows:
We
acknowledge
the
concerns,
particularly
in
light
of
Oready
LLC,
B
-
423524
(June
5,
2025),
and
have
verified
all
references
against
GAO's
database
to
ensure
accuracy.
Errors
resulted
from
clerical
issues
during
manual
research
under
deadlines;
we
have
implemented
peer
-
review
to
prevent
recurrence.
We
understand
that
GAO
may
impose
sanctions
for
filings
that
are
frivolous
or
in
bad
faith
pursuant
to
4
C.F.R.
§
21.10.
However,
sanctions
are
not
typically
warranted
for
inadvertent
clerical
errors
that
are
promptly
explained
and
corrected.
See,
e.g.,
Raven
Investigations
&
Sec.
Consulting,
LLC
,
B
-
423447,
May
7,
2025
(declining
to
impose
sanctions
where
protester
explained
manual
citation
errors).
We
respectfully
request
that
our
explanations
be
accepted
in
this
spirit.
Detailed
explanations
for
each
of
the
15
citations
are
provided
below
.
.
.
.
Where
we
erred,
we
have
proposed
a
correct
and
more
relevant
authority.
As
in
Logistics
Management
Institute
,
B
-
417601
(various
dates,
e.g.
,
2018),
sanctions
are
unwarranted
where
inaccuracies
do
not
rise
to
frivolity
and
are
corrected
promptly.
Similarly,
in
Wright
Brothers
Aero,
Inc.
,
B
-
423326.2,
GAO
accepted
explanations
of
manual
citation
errors
without
sanctions,
proceeding
to
merits
review.
Dkt.
No.
8,
Resp.
to
GAO
Req.
for
Briefing
at
1.
We
similarly
find
th
is
explanation
unpersuasive.
The
jurisdiction
of
our
Office
is
established
by
the
bid
protest
provisions
of
the
Competition
in
Contracting
Act
of
1984
(CICA),
31
U.S.C.
§§
3551-
3557.
In
fulfilling
our
mandate
under
CICA
to
provide
for
the
inexpensive
and
expeditious
resolution
of
bid
protests,
we
necessarily
reserve
an
inherent
right
to
dismiss
any
protest,
and
to
impose
sanctions
against
a
protester,
where
a
protester’s
actions
undermine
the
integrity
and
effectiveness
of
our
process.
Raven
Investigations
&
Security
Consulting,
LLC
,
B
-
423447,
May
7,
2025,
2025
CPD
¶
112
at
4
citing
BBGSRO
Constr.
S.R.L.
,
B
-
423091,
B
-
423091.2,
Jan.
21,
2025,
2025
CPD
¶
40
at
6
-
8;
Latvian
Connection
LLC
,
B
-
413442,
Aug.
18,
2016,
2016
CPD
¶
194
at
6;
PWC
Logistics
Servs.
Co.
KSC(c)
,
B
-
310559,
Jan.
11,
2008,
2008
CPD
¶
25
at
12.
The
inherent
right
of
dispute
forums
to
levy
sanctions
in
response
to
abusive
litigation
practices
is
widely
recognized
and
has
been
characterized
by
the
Supreme
Court
as
“ancient
[in]
origin”
and
governed
not
by
rule
or
statute,
but
by
the
control
necessarily
vested
in
a
forum
to
manage
its
own
affairs.
Roadway
Express,
Inc.
v.
Piper
et
al.
,
44
U.S.
752,
765
(1980).
Page
9
B
-
423649
et
al.
Our
decision
here
turns
on
Oready’s
repeated
submission
of
non-
existent
citations
or
decisions
,
as
evidenced
in
the
multiple
protests
filed
with
our
Office
subsequent
to
our
June
5
initial
notice
to
the
protester
that
submission
of
future
protests
with
misleading
or
inaccurate
citations
might
result
in
imposition
of
sanctions.
See
Oready,
LLC
,
B
-
423524,
supra
at
2
n.1.
Nonetheless,
on
June
20,
Oready
filed
two
pre-
award
protests,
docketed
as
B
-
423649
and
B
-
423650,
respectively.
A
third
protest
by
Oready
was
filed
on
June
25,
docketed
as
B
-
423670,
and
as
supplemented
on
June
26,
docketed
as
B
-
423670.2.
As
noted
above,
t
hese
were
the
protests
in
which
our
Office
identified
the
significant
number
of
non-
existent
citations
or
decision
s
in
Oready’s
protest
submissions.
The
protester’s
characterization
of
these
objectively
false
citations
as
inaccuracies
or
inadvertent
clerical
errors
are
unavailing.
Indeed,
the
protester’s
explanation
that
a
particular
incorrect
citation
was
a
“mismatch,”
“inapt,”
simply
“erroneous,”
or
a
“typo
[typographic]”
error,
strains
credulity
and
the
protester
fails
to
reasonably
explain
its
repeated
submission
of
non-
existent
citations
or
decisions
in
its
protests
and
subsequent
submissions
.
6
See
Dkt.
No.
8,
Resp.
to
GAO
Req.
for
Briefing
at
2
-
3.
Turning
to
the
question
of
whether
the
protester’s
repeated
submission
of
non-
existent
citations
or
decisions
warrant
sanction,
all
parties
have
an
obligation
to
confirm
that
arguments
and
decisions
cited
to
our
Office
are
supported
by
existing
law,
and
a
failure
to
do
so
is
sanctionable.
See,
e.g.
,
Pop
Top
Corp.
v.
Rakuten
Kobo
Inc.
,
No.
20
-
cv-
04482-
YGR
(DMR)
,
2025
U.S.
Dist.
LEXIS
143212
at
*
6
(N.D.
Cal.
July
25,
2025)
(“[The
party’s
]
self
-
represented
stat
u
s
does
not
permit
him
to
submit
information
blindly.”);
Saxena
v.
Martinez
-
Hernandez
,
No.
22-
CV-
02126-
CDS-
BNW,
2025
U.S.
Dist.
LEXIS
78049
at
*
6
(D.
Nev.
Apr.
23,
2025)
(“[Plaintiff]
contends
that
his
use
of
artificial
6
The
protester
does
not
concede
its
use
of
AI
in
the
preparation
of
its
protest
filings
as
the
source
of
the
fabricated
citations
,
stating:
“All
research
was
conducted
manually
by
Oready’s
small,
non-
attorney
leadership
team.
The
errors
stemmed
from
flaws
in
our
internal
research
process
under
tight
deadlines,
which
we
have
now
overhauled.”
See
Dkt.
No.
10,
Opp.
to
Agency’s
Consolidated
Req.
for
Dismissal
at
1.
However,
our
decision
here
is
not
based
on
the
use
of
AI
as
a
method
of
research;
it
is
based
on
the
protester’s
repeated
reliance
on
non-
existent
citations
or
decisions
without
verifying
their
corre
ctness
and
applicability
to
the
arguments
being
presented.
Other
forums
have
identified
issues
that
result
from
the
use
of
AI
.
See,
e.g.
,
Sanders
v.
United
States
,
176
Fed.
Cl.
163,
169
n.8
(Fed.
Cl.
2025)
(collecting
citations
and
explaining
that
“[f]ake
cases
generated
by
AI
often
have
reporter
citations
that
lead
to
cases
with
different
names,
in
different
courts,
and
about
different
subjects”).
As
we
discussed
in
a
prior
decision
involving
the
protester,
there
is
nothing
“inherently
wrong
with
[a
party]
properly
and
competently
utilizing
AI
or
any
of
its
subsets
.
.
.
fact
-
checking
and
citation-
checking
are
absolute
necessities
when
utilizing
AI
or
any
of
its
subsets”).
Oready
,
B
-
423524.2,
supra
at
7
(
quoting
Versant
Funding
LLC
v.
Texas
Breakbulk
Ocean
Navigation
Enters.,
LLC
,
supra
).
Page
10
B
-
423649
et
al.
intelligence
should
not
be
grounds
for
dismissal
because
he
is
pro
se
and
disabled.
[However,
t]
his
is
no
excuse
for
submitting
non-
existent
authority
to
the
court
in
support
of
a
brief.”);
Morgan
v.
Cmty.
Against
Violence
,
No.
23-
CV-
353-
WPJ/JMR,
2023
U.S.
Dist.
LEXIS
190181
at
*
18
(D.
N.M.
Oct.
23,
2023)
(“Although
courts
‘make
some
allowances
for
the
pro
se
Plaintiff’s
failure
to
cite
to
proper
legal
authority,’
courts
do
not
make
allowances
for
a
Plaintiff
who
cites
to
fake,
nonexistent,
misleading
authorities.”)
(quotation
omitted).
We
further
underscore
here
the
material
aggravating
factor
that
the
protester’s
misconduct
in
submitting
non-
existent
citations
or
decisions
was
not
a
single
occurrence,
but,
rather
,
included
a
multitude
of
such
problematic
citations
and
decisions
across
multiple
protests.
Most
troubling,
the
misconduct
continued
after
GAO
explicitly
warned
the
protester
of
the
potential
for
sanctions
if
such
misconduct
persisted.
See
Oready
,
B
-
423524,
supra
.
Under
these
circumstances,
appropriate
sanctions
for
abuse
of
the
GAO
bid
protest
process
are
warranted.
See,
e.g.
,
Byoplanet
Int’l,
LLC
v.
Johansson
,
Nos.
0:25-
cv-
60630,
60646,
60647,
and
60712,
2025
U.S.
Dist.
LEXIS
144449
at
*2
1
(S.D.
Fla.
July
17,
2025)
(dismissing
multiple
related
cases
where
counsel
“despite
being
on
notice
that
his
use
of
AI
resulted
in
hallucinated
cases
and
quotations,
[counsel]
continued
to
make
submissions
to
the
Court
and
using
AI
without
checking
the
veracity
of
cases
and
citations
submitted
to
the
Court
and
his
adversaries”);
Mojtabavi
v.
Blinken
,
No.
SA
CV
24
-
1359
PA
(ASx)
,
2024
U.S.
Dist.
LEXIS
225418
at
*7-
9
(C.D.
Cal.
Dec.
12,
2024)
(dismissing
case
where,
after
a
prior
warning,
a
pro
se
party’s
filings
continued
to
be
“filled
with
inaccurate
and/or
falsified
case
citations,”
with
“[s]everal
of
the
citations
yield[ing]
no
[search]
results,
while
others
correspond[ed]
with
different,
unrelated
cases”)
.
Taking
the
totality
of
the
circumstances
into
account,
w
e
view
Oready’s
continued
submission
of
pleadings
with
nonexistent
citations
and
decisions
as
inconsistent
with,
and
undermining,
the
integrity
of
our
Office’s
bid
protest
process.
The
multiple
irregularities
discussed
above,
which
necessarily
wastes
the
time
of
all
parties
and
GAO
in
searching
for
and
attempting
to
reconcile
fa
bricated
decisions
,
is
at
odds
with
the
statutory
mandate
that
our
bid
protest
forum
provide
for
“the
inexpensive
and
expeditious
resolution
of
protests.”
31
U.S.C.
§
3554(a)(1)
;
see
Raven
Investigations
&
Security
Consulting,
LLC
,
supra
at
4
.
As
we
have
explained,
o
ur
authority
to
impose
dismissal
or
other
appropriate
sanctions
against
a
protester
is
an
inherent
right
and
we
exercise
that
right
here
in
response
to
Oready’s
c
ontinuing
actions
,
which
undermines
the
integrity
and
effectiveness
of
our
proceedings
.
See
e.g.
,
BBGSRO
Constr.
S.R.L.
,
supra
at
7
-
8.
The
protests
are
dismissed.
Edda
Emmanuelli
Perez
General
Counsel
Provenance
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