Penquis C.A.P., Inc. v. Department of Administrative and Financial Services

Summary

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the Business and Consumer Docket's judgment upholding a DAFS appeal committee's validation of DHHS's awards of regional nonemergency transportation (NET) contracts to ModivCare for Regions 2, 3, 4, and 8. The court held that the procurement statute and the Administrative Procedure Act entitled Penquis CAP to present, but not obtain, evidence, so the committee did not violate the law or abuse its discretion in holding the hearing before Penquis CAP's Freedom of Access Act requests were fulfilled. The court further held that the record did not compel findings, by clear and convincing evidence, of fundamental unfairness from panelists' note errors, inadequate consensus-scoring documentation, or disparate treatment favoring ModivCare.