Pillsbury Secures TRO Enjoining DoD Debarment of Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business

For 35 years, Precision has been manufacturing aircraft and military parts for the U.S. Department of Defense, with effectively all its current revenue derived from DoD contracts and subcontracts. DoD debarred the company and its father and son owners based on concerns about on-time delivery issues, though no allegations were made regarding the quality of Precision’s parts (as Precision currently maintains a 99-percent quality score). The debarments immediately rendered the company ineligible for new government contracts and subcontracts. As a result of the debarments, the business was facing imminent closure and layoffs of all its employees.

After an emergency Temporary Restraining Order hearing on Friday, July 8—held just days after the case was filed in the Eastern District of New York—United States District Court Judge Joanna Seybert granted Precision’s request for a TRO against DoD, including the Defense Logistics Agency and Department of Air Force. The decision vacates and sets aside the debarment decisions, enjoins DoD from proposing debarment or debarring plaintiffs during the pendency of the proceedings, and orders their names be removed from the U.S. government’s System for Award Management. That same day, Judge Seybert issued a 10-page decision memorializing her ruling.

Recognizing the urgency of the matter, Judge Seybert granted Plaintiffs’ request for an emergency hearing. The Court found that Precision has shown a likelihood of success on the merits because “Defendants have violated the APA in issuing their Debarment Decisions without affording Plaintiffs their requested in-person meeting and have failed to hold a fact-finding hearing to consider Plaintiffs’ claimed disputes of material facts, and have violated Plaintiffs’ Fifth Amendment Due Process Rights substantially for the same reasons.” Additionally, the Court held “Plaintiffs will suffer immediate irreparable harm unless Defendants are enjoined …,” and that the balance of the harms and public interest weigh in favor of Plaintiffs.

On behalf of the Precision trial team, Canni shared: “We are honored to have been able to secure this critical TRO for Precision, Thomas and Tony Figlozzi and all their valued employees. Precision is a model small business government contractor that embodies the American Dream and the pursuit of happiness through hard work and dedication. The Pillsbury team is grateful for the opportunity to represent such a deserving small business and that the TRO was granted, saving the jobs of over forty hard-working Americans on Long Island, my hometown.”    

In addition to Canni, who leads Pillsbury’s national debarment team, the Pillsbury lawyers representing Precision included partners Richard Donoghue and Matt Carter, and associate Kevin Massoudi.

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