Domar Electric, Inc. v. City of Los Angeles

Domar Electric, Inc. (Domar) submitted the lowest monetary bid on a public works project in the City of Los Angeles (the City). It was not awarded the contract because it failed to document that it had complied with a subcontractor outreach program. Domar challenged the decision to award the contract to another bidder on the grounds that the outreach program violated the City’s charter, Public Contract Code section 2000, and the equal protection clause of the United States Constitution.

In an opinion filed in October 1993, this court held that the outreach program violated the City’s charter. The City successfully petitioned for review. The Supreme Court, finding no inconsistency between the outreach program and the City’s charter, reversed our judgment and remanded the matter to permit us to consider Domar’s remaining contentions. (Domar Electric, Inc. v. City of Los Angeles (1994) 9 Cal.4th 161, 168-169, 179 [36 Cal.Rptr.2d 521, 885 P.2d 934 ] (Domar I).) We do so now, and find both to be lacking in merit.

Background

We place Domar’s challenges to the outreach program in the historical context from which they arise:

Public works contracts awarded under state law…