Taxpayers dodge financial bullet thanks to judge’s ruling
By Sandy Hodson, The Augusta Chronicle, Ga. | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Meritain, an independent subsidiary of Aetna insurance, sought more than
Meritain will receive the
In late 2013 Meritain filed a
Roper agreed with Meritain's legal position that state laws and the city's purchasing ordinances were violated when the rules for awarding the bid were changed at the last minute. The change gave
Compounding the unfair bidding process was the city's commissioners handling of Meritain's bid protest, the judge ruled in a scathing order last summer.
Commissioners voted
Roper's ruling and the city's failure to file a timely appeal meant Augusta had to rebid the contract. City commissioners again selected
Although Meritain's legal challenge was successful, the legal standard to award attorney fees required bad faith on the city's part. Bad judgment and negligence doesn't equate to bad faith, Roper wrote. There were legitimate legal questions to be decided in the lawsuit, he wrote.
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