S. Ct. Civ. No. 2015-0015

In an appeal from a Superior Court opinion and order denying a motion for a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction, the judgment is affirmed. In deciding whether to grant a preliminary injunction, the Superior Court must consider whether: (1) the movant has shown a reasonable probability of success on the merits; (2) the movant will be irreparably injured by denial of the relief; (3) granting preliminary relief will result in even greater harm to the nonmoving party; and (4) granting the preliminary relief will be in the public interest. A preliminary injunction is an extraordinary and drastic remedy and may only be awarded upon a clear showing that the plaintiff is entitled to such relief. The Superior Court's order and opinion on the plaintiff's complaint relating to protest of a bid award on a public contract, after two days of hearings, was unduly deferential to the Housing Authority's explanation for why it did not award the contract to plaintiff, but that error was harmless. As a matter of law, the Authority could not have awarded the contract to plaintiff when it did not have a license necessary to perform that contract. Consequently, plaintiff has an extremely low likelihood of ultimately succeeding on the merits, since it did not possess a license that was required to qualify it to perform the demolition work contemplated by the contract. No error is found in the Superior Court's assessment of the remaining factors, including the finding that harm to the Housing Authority and the public interest from loss of federal grant funds would greatly outweigh any irreparable harm plaintiff might suffer in the unlikely prevent it prevails. Accordingly, the Superior Court did not abuse its discretion when it denied plaintiff's motion for a preliminary injunction, and the January 23, 2015 opinion and order are affirmed.