HONOLULU – The Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) announced this week it has filed a motion to dismiss the Ciber, Inc. lawsuit contending Ciber has failed to prosecute the case and has continued to stall the proceedings. In addition, Ciber has failed to respond to discovery requests despite being ordered by the court to provide the evidence highlighting Ciber’s misconduct.
The motion to dismiss states Ciber’s egregious discovery violations and moribund litigation posture have prejudiced HDOT’s ability to prepare its defense, and have confirmed that Ciber’s strategy is to play out the clock, delaying, rather than advancing, the resolution of its claims against HDOT.
The State’s claims against Ciber, a consulting firm that failed to deliver a software implementation project for HDOT, remain in the case. In a lawsuit pending since September 2015, HDOT has been litigating claims against Ciber for fraud, false claims, breach of contract and unfair competition stemming from Ciber’s misrepresentations and performance failures in connection with the failed implementation of a new financial software system for HDOT’s Highways Division. Ciber abandoned the project in 2014 even though the software system was unfinished and unable to carry out essential HDOT functions. HDOT’s case described, among other contentions, how Ciber’s managers had admitted in internal reports that Ciber had submitted fraudulent and erroneous invoices and payment demands to HDOT.
HDOT is seeking tens of millions of dollars in damages, including fees it paid to Ciber, fees paid to third parties, and the costs of a replacement software system. HDOT’s fraud claims expose Ciber to possible punitive damages, and false claims and unfair competition claims expose Ciber to trebled damages.
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