MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Shelby County is at the center of a new lawsuit. Wellpath, the company that provides medical services for inmates, claims there is a "shady situation " going on regarding how the county is handling issuing a new contract .
According to the lawsuit, Wellpath was the successful bidder to provide medical services for inmates. The lawsuit says Wellpath and the county had reached a final deal on August 7, 2020.
On August 11th, a competing company named Corizon sent the county a letter, saying if it was given the contract, it would spend $40 million with a list of local minority firms.
On August 12th, the county revoked its deal with Wellpath. The list of firms Corizon listed would be used and benefit from the switch included the names of two former county commissioners, and the brother of sitting county commissioner. One high ranking county employee also used to work for one of the minority companies that Corizon said it would use.
"There are rules and regulations that must be followed, and for reasons, we don't know why, as of today the county decided to grossly deviate from those rules," said Clarence Wilbon, Wellpath attorney. "We are not in the position to say anyone has actually colluded with anyone. We just know there is some type of malfeasance going on."
Wilbon questioned the timing of the entire situation.
"We don't believe that it is coincidental that Corizon would send a letter promising to spend $40 million and the timing of the rescinding."
Wilbon said Wellpath has provide inmate medical services for the county for 14 years. Corizon bid on the request for proposal but did not win the RFP - Wellpath did.
"What Wellpath is seeking is for Shelby County to honor its obligations under its procurement process and allow the matter to move forward to the next phase."
Wilbon said the issue is not with the minority company spending. He said Wellpath supports county minority spending. The issue, said Wilbon, is how the procurement process is being handled.
"Corizon has attempted to backdoor its way into a contract it was not approved for by saying they will spend a significant amount of money with minority contractors in exchange for being improperly awarded the contract."
The Shelby County Attorney's office isn't commenting on the lawsuit, saying its pending litigation.
Corizon issued this statement Thursday evening:
"We are pleased that the county contacted us to initiate discussions about serving their correctional healthcare needs based on our response to the RFQ. We are confident we are able to serve the county with the quality of services they require, working with our client and our Minority and Women-owned and Locally Owned (MWBE/LOSB) small business partners from Memphis and Shelby County. Corizon is confident that our proposed working relationships with community partners who are successful Shelby County business leaders and employers in good standing with the Shelby County EOC will be appropriate and valuable elements of our ongoing service to the county. Partnerships with local M/WBE and LOSB companies are routine elements to our working relationships with communities across the country; we and our competitors all work in such relationships successfully in our business. This situation is no different, and any suggestion otherwise is patently false."