Pennsylvania Supreme Court Holds that Sovereign Immunity Prohibits Challenge to Procurement Cancellation
In the recent Pennsylvania case, Scientific Games Int’l, Inc. v. Commonwealth, the plaintiff filed its Complaint with the Commonwealth Court and sought an injunction to prevent DGS from cancelling a contract that the plaintiff claimed it had entered into with DGS. In response, DGS argued that this case involved either (1) the cancellation of a procurement, in which case DGS was afforded sovereign immunity can could not be sued anywhere, or (2) a breach of contract claim for which the Board of Claims has exclusive jurisdiction. On appellate review, the Supreme Court agreed with DGS, and indicated that in the event of a cancellation of a solicitation under Section 521 of the Procurement Code, an aggrieved bidder or offeror has no available remedy based on the sovereign immunity granted to Commonwealth agencies. The practical effect of this ruling will be that there is now no judicial oversight to a Commonwealth agency’s decision to cancel a solicitation under the Procurement Code.