Waltham company sues MassDOT over public records amid highway rest stop contract controversy

A Massachusetts-based company is suing the state’s transportation department in order to gain access to public records related to a deal worth hundreds of millions of dollars to operate the state’s highway service plazas.

In June, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation board voted in favor of allowing Applegreen, an Ireland-based and private-equity backed company, to rebuild and operate 18 of the state’s highway service plazas. Waltham-based Global Partners was among the bidders vying for the contract and raised concerns over the process and alleged conflicts of interest that led to the selection of Applegreen.

“We feel the process was opaque, we don't think it was fair, we don't think it was transparent,” Global Partners regional manager Bill Bruce said at a rally held on the steps of the State House in late July, calling for an oversight hearing.

In its lawsuit filed Friday in Suffolk County Superior Court, Global Partners is requesting documents related to the bids and communications among transportation officials during the bidding process. The suit alleges MassDOT did not respond to public record requests within the timeframe as set by state law.

The records requests aim to create transparency around MassDOT’s procurement process, said Global Partners president and chief executive Eric Slifka in a statement to WBUR.

“This isn’t just a fight about one contract, this is about public trust, proper governance, and making sure decisions of this magnitude aren’t buried in secrecy,” he said.

Sean Geary, the company’s chief legal officer, said he thinks it’s in the interest of the Massachusetts' taxpayer to understand how state resources are being used.

"What we hope to achieve is some sort of clarity as to why the state thought it was appropriate to leave so much money on the table," said Geary. “Not so much because Global suffers, but really the fact that the taxpayers of the Commonwealth are going to suffer.”

Global Partners said it offered a better deal in the bidding process that would lead to more revenue for the state over the life of the contract. In the lawsuit, Global Partners said it “guaranteed $1.512 billion minimum versus Applegreen's variable projections, ranging from $500 to $900 million less than Global's offer.”

In the lawsuit and a previous complaint, Global Partners alleges that at MassDOT’s June board meeting, “it was evident that certain members of the MassDOT Selection Committee, and specifically Scott Bosworth, head of the MassDOT Selection Committee, were attempting to discredit Global's proposal and advocate solely for the proposal submitted by Applegreen, a foreign company majority owned by Blackstone Infrastructure Partners.”

Global Partners has alleged that Bosworth sought employment opportunities with Blackstone during the bidding process, creating a potential conflict of interest.

Blackstone previously issued a statement saying there is “absolutely no truth to the allegations” made by Global Partners.

MassDOT in a statement late Monday said it has provided more than 1,200 pages of records to Global Partners and "continues to meet its obligations under the law." The agency maintains that it "ran a competitive bid process and chose the company that provided the best value and would renovate all service plazas on the fastest timeline."

A MassDOT spokesperson told WBUR in late July that the agency “takes any allegations of a conflict of interest seriously, and will review them in accordance with state ethics guidelines and our internal policies. We are committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity, transparency and accountability in all our operations.”

The spokesperson described the service plaza project as “an incredibly exciting opportunity” for the state. “This vendor’s proposal contained significant capital investment, a faster timeline, a commitment to fully rebuild nine service plazas, a proven track record in other states and representation from highly experienced Massachusetts companies on their team.”

Applegreen is the nation's largest service plaza vendor, and operates in nine states.

The contract involves the company taking over operation of 18 of the state's service plazas. Currently McDonald's operates 14 and Global Partners operates 4. The lease is set to begin next year and lasts for 35 years.

With additional reporting by WBUR's Dan Guzman.
This story was updated with a response from MassDOT.