The COVID-19 testing contract that the City of Los Angeles awarded to Bluestone appears wrought with conflicts of interest and ethics violations, according to a lawsuit filed by a local police union.
The Los Angeles Police Protective League is challenging the fact that Pedram Salimpour partially owns Bluestone while acting as the appointed commissioner of Los Angeles Fire and Police Pensions (LAFPP), according to LAFPP’s website.
“They’ve included in their factual allegations that a commissioner got a sole source contract from the city when it should have gone out to bid or should have gone to see if there are cheaper options,” said Josiah Young, a contract law attorney based in Sacramento.
Pricing under the $3 million agreement is on a per COVID-19 test basis, according to the contract, which is posted online.
“City politics are based on relationships,” Young told the Southern California Record. “So, there’s always going to be a thin line between the legal and illegal and that is what is being called into question. There are a lot of reasons for the union to be wanting to make an issue out of this from multiple angles. They are trying to require the city to engage in good faith bargaining and exhaust their procedure.”
Unvaccinated police officers and firefighters, who are city employees, must submit to a COVID-19 test twice a week. The price of the test is $65 and the cost is deducted from their salaries.
“As an attorney, I always try to make sure that my clients are staying very free from conflicts and ultimately this case is about optics,” Young said. “This does not look good that a guy with a lot of major connections to the city is now profiting $260 per member of the union every two weeks. It just doesn't look good and it's exacerbated by the fact that there are just so many vocal outcries to the vaccine mandate and the testing mandates around it.”
The plaintiffs are seeking a temporary restraining order (TRO), however the court must first determine whether there is irreparable harm, according to Young.
“The court will balance that with the likelihood that the petitioning party, which is the police union, will be successful on the merits,” he said. “No laws have been broken but doesn't it make sense to bid this to the city? The evidence the union wants to show is that there are 10 other qualified contractors who can do this and do it for cheaper. If they can show that, then they can show that it was inappropriate to sole-source the contract."
The Los Angeles Police Protective League did not respond to requests for comment.
"The court can stop the city from implementing that contract and the court can also order the city to take it to bid but the court can't choose who needs to win that contract," Young added.