Three months after Murray State broke ground on its new veterinary sciences building, the University faces a lawsuit for alleged unfair practices in its bidding process.
On July 22, A&K Construction filed a complaint in the McCracken County Circuit Court alleging unfair and arbitrary decision making after the University rejected their bid for the new veterinary sciences building. According to the complaint, A&K Construction was denied the bid for the construction despite being the lowest bidder. The complaint alleges the University rejected their bid due to another ongoing lawsuit regarding bidding for the Jackson Hall Nursing Sciences Building.
“On information and belief, MSU’s evaluators’ scoring of A&K’s Phase I submittal was not based on the objective and quantifiable criteria set forth in the Invitation,” the company said in their complaint, “but was instead a deliberate act of retaliation against A&K for exercising its constitutional and statutory rights in connection with its prior protest and litigation against MSU.”
A&K Construction has previously worked with Murray State for the construction of Franklin Hall and the Murray State regional campus in Paducah, Kentucky. After the University sent out the veterinary sciences bid invitation to local contractors, A&K responded with a bid offer totaling $40 million, around $1 to $2 million cheaper than the selected bidder Ray Black & Son Inc.
According to the bidding invitations sent out by Murray State for construction of both the veterinary sciences and nursing buildings, assessment of contractors is based on both the offered price and the experience of the contracting firm. According to the complaint, the University’s evaluators gave A&K Construction 33.25 out of 40 points in the category of experience and team quality, with selected contractor Ray Black & Sons receiving 37 out of 40 in the same category.
According to open records documents presented in A&K’s complaint, University evaluators mentioned A&K’s ongoing lawsuit against Murray State as reasons against hiring the company.
On Dec. 19, 2024, A&K filed a petition against Murray State’s contract with Pinnacle Inc. for construction of the nursing building. During that bidding process, A&K offered the lowest cost bid at $24.5 million, but their offer was rejected. The lawsuit is still ongoing.
In their bid protest given to University, A&K alleged the decision to go with Pinnacle was arbitrary, and that evaluators made subjective perceptions regarding the company and their prior work with the University. A&K also alleged a potential conflict of interest regarding Murray State’s selection of Pinnacle, given that their president, Dennis Smith, serves on the University’s Board of Trustees. According to A&K’s protest, this conflict was acknowledged by evaluators for the project.
In their response to the 2024 protest, Murray State said their decision to reject the bid came partly from issues during previous projects done with A&K, including missed deadlines, construction deficiencies and failure to supply owner training and handbooks prior to completion. The University maintained that they had adhered to all guidelines regarding the competitive sealed bidding process.
The lawsuit for the nursing building is still ongoing, no court date it currently set for either lawsuit.
Murray State declined to comment regarding the latest lawsuit.
