Coffman Specialties, Inc. v. Department of Transportation

Coffman Specialties, Inc. (Coffman), an engineering contractor, brought an action against California’s Department of Transportation (Caltrans) seeking a declaratory judgment that arbitration provisions in the State Contract Act are unconstitutional. (Pub. Contract Code, § 10240 et seq.) Coffman contends these provisions, on their face and as applied, violate its constitutional rights to a neutral arbitrator, petition the government, and equal protection of the law. The trial court sustained Caltrans’s demurrer without leave to amend, and entered judgment in Caltrans’s favor. Coffman appeals. We affirm.

STATUTORY OVERVIEW

The State Contract Act governs specified public works projects that exceed a certain cost, and requires competitive bidding for covered projects. (§ 10105.) The Act mandates that once a bid is accepted and the parties enter into a contract, the “remedy for the resolution of claims” arising from the contract “shall be arbitration” under the statutory provisions. (§ 10240.) This arbitration process is administered by the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH), and by a committee composed of industry and governmental representatives, known as the Public…