By Jon King / jking@whmi.com


A lawsuit filed by a Virginia-based drug testing company against Livingston County for breach of contract has been dismissed.

In the lawsuit, filed in November of 2018 in U.S. District Court in Detroit, Avertest LLC sought more than $112,000 in damages, plus costs and attorney fees. The company alleged that after their bid for drug and alcohol testing services was approved by the Livingston County Board of Commissioners in May of 2018, they were contacted by the county’s Court Programs Liaison and requested to provide a lease agreement for a testing facility. The company says it did so in the amount of $74,692.44 and that from May 8th through June 2nd of that year they communicated daily with county officials on implementing the contract.

But on June 7th, 2018 Avertest says they were sent a notice by the county that the relationship would be discontinued, effective immediately, “without any legitimate basis stated.” When they invoiced the county for the lease agreement and other costs in excess of $112,000, county officials indicated they would not pay for any of the expenses, saying no contract was actually signed between the parties. Avertest’s suit claimed that was “legally meaningless” as the Livingston County Board of Commissioners had passed a resolution authorizing the contract and county officials then authorized the company to begin the process of fulfilling that arrangement. The company also disputed the county’s assertions that the company had failed to provide the necessary services and did so at a higher rate than what they had bid for and that “numerous complaints” had been received and about the procedures the company used and a “lack of respect shown for the participants’ privacy,” noting that not one example was cited.

The county’s attorneys asserted that while a resolution was passed by the board to move forward in the bidding process, “it was specifically stated that the award was contingent upon…a successfully negotiated contract” which never occurred. The county also claimed that Avertest ultimately chose a different location for the testing than what had been proposed which, “was (a) much less-desirable location, further away from the Courts, with limited parking and no visibility for the road.”

In a decision issued August 3rd, and posted below, Judge Linda Parker ruled that Avertest proceeded at its own risk when it signed a five-year lease on a property before a final contract was signed and granted summary judgment, dismissing the lawsuit and ending the company’s claim against the county.