Jireh Construction Co., Inc., a Black-owned Richmond highway contractor, is challenging VDOT’s rejection of its nearly $4 million bid for a four-county sidewalk and traffic-signal project. Jireh was the only bidder and alleges that VDOT applied its bid-value rules inconsistently, rejecting the offer without stating a reason. The company has filed a first amended complaint accusing the agency of racial discrimination in its contract-award process.
The bid was opened October 23, 2024, and rejected on November 4, according to WRIC ABC 8News. Jireh says in a Tuesday press release that VDOT waived the same bidding rule for other contractors while applying it to the company. Mark Krudys of the Krudys Law Firm represents Jireh.
Jireh says this was its third low bid rejected by VDOT in three months. The company says it was prequalified and bonded for the work and owned the required heavy equipment. It also points to a VDOT contract it completed on time in December 2023, awarded at a price 26.74% above the project’s estimated value; Jireh’s legal team argues that the earlier award challenges VDOT’s later reliance on project value to reject the bid.
Jireh’s Challenge Focuses on Unequal Application of Bid Rules
After learning of the rejection, Jireh owner Willie C. Lee, who is Black, called a senior VDOT official. The complaint says the official told him, “We don’t mind you getting a boat, but not a yacht.” Jireh’s legal team cites the remark as evidence of discriminatory treatment.
Lee wrote to VDOT’s chief engineer on October 22, 2024, alleging implicit bias against minority contractors, and again raised his concerns with the agency on November 4, the same day the bid was formally rejected. “He built Jireh to compete for any VDOT job, followed the rules, and sought equal opportunity,” the complaint states, describing Lee’s account of why he founded the company.
Attorney Points to VDOT’s Own Award Records
Krudys argues that VDOT’s award records conflict with the agency’s stated rationale. He said the records show at least 80 contracts awarded above project value in the two years before Jireh’s bid. The figures cited in the dispute also show that VDOT awarded 29 contracts to sole bidders from September 2022 through August 2024, including one nearly 41% above project value. VDOT reportedly rejects about 5% of contracts on average.
According to the Krudys Law Firm’s account of the correspondence, VDOT’s rejection letter said Jireh’s bids exceeded the advertised project values and that agency rules could not be overlooked. VDOT also referred to Jireh’s Disadvantaged Business Enterprise certification in October 2024 communications. Krudys says the company is seeking equal application of the rules, not special treatment.
Lawsuit Seeks Damages for Lost Profit and Bonding Capacity
Jireh is seeking damages that include lost profit and lost bonding capacity tied to the rejected bid. WRIC reported that it reached out to VDOT for comment on the lawsuit.
The dispute arrives amid broader changes to how Virginia handles its Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program. Virginia Mercury reported in January that VDOT had stopped tracking progress toward DBE goals and paused certain program reviews until the Virginia Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity could complete checks of currently approved firms. Under the revised federal rule described in that reporting, current and new DBE and Airport Concessions DBE firms must submit a personal narrative and personal net worth statement to demonstrate individual social and economic disadvantage.
The Virginia Transportation Construction Alliance said VDOT intended to restart the state’s DBE Program on July 1, 2026, under revised federal requirements. VDOT’s Civil Rights Division page lists a DBE Program Reinstatement Memo and related technical guidance dated June 17, 2026. Those posted materials document VDOT’s guidance, but do not establish whether the planned July 1 restart occurred as anticipated.
What Virginia Procurement Law Requires
Virginia’s Public Procurement Act sets specific limits on how public bodies like VDOT can treat bidders. Under Code of Virginia § 2.2-4310, no public body may discriminate against a bidder or offeror because of race or several other protected categories when soliciting or awarding contracts. A separate provision, § 2.2-4319, bars a public body from canceling or rejecting a bid solely to avoid awarding a contract to a particular responsive and responsible bidder.
How a Bidder Can Challenge a Procurement Decision
Virginia Code § 2.2-4364(A) allows a bidder who is refused permission to participate, disqualified, or determined not responsible to challenge that decision in circuit court, subject to the statute’s stated grounds for reversal, according to the Virginia Law Library’s publication of the code. That provision alone does not establish which procedural route applies to Jireh’s bid rejection or what filing deadline applies.
The case is separate from an earlier VDOT employment matter reported by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, in which the agency settled one of two related lawsuits alleging race-based job discrimination, agreeing to pay $70,000 to a veteran Bristol District employee. That case involved workplace treatment of a VDOT employee rather than a contractor’s bid, but it reflects a separate instance in which the agency faced discrimination allegations.
