Sameena Inc. v. United States Air Force

Mirza Ali and Sameena Ali (plaintiffs) were a married couple. Mirza was the chief executive officer (CEO) of University Systems, Inc. (USI). During Mirza’s tenure with USI, USI was debarred by the government for three years because of bid-submission misconduct. USI’s debarment extended to its principal officers, including Mirza. Sameena was the president of Samtech Research, Inc. (plaintiff). Samtech submitted a proposal in response to an Air Force (defendant) solicitation, which included a certification that neither Samtech nor any of its principal officers were disbarred or facing disbarment. However, upon investigation, the Air Force discovered that Samtech’s bank documents listed Mirza as Samtech’s vice president and that Mirza was authorized to make withdrawals from Samtech’s accounts. Based on those findings, Samtech was disqualified from consideration, and the Air Force commenced proceedings to disbar Samtech, Sameena, and Mirza for 15 years. In response to the notice of disbarment proceedings, Sameena requested an evidentiary hearing to clarify Mirza’s connection with Samtech. Samtech submitted evidence that Mirza was mistakenly listed as Samtech’s vice-president and that Mirza’s withdrawal authorization was strictly limited to actions necessary to fulfill his role as Samtech’s bookkeeper. A bookkeeper is not a principal corporate role. The Air Force denied Samtech an evidentiary hearing and issued a final decision imposing the 15-year debarment. Samtech, together with Sameena and Mirza (collectively, Samtech), appealed, arguing that the Air Force’s decision to debar Samtech without an evidentiary hearing violated due process.