FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SCAPEGOATED DC EMPLOYEE RETAINS LAW FIRM

AMID PLANNED BID CONTRACT INVESTIGATION
BY COUNCILWOMAN MARY CHEH

Former DGS Associate Director Yinka Alao Hires The Chambers Firm To Fight Wrongful
Termination Concocted To Appease Major Donor To DC Mayor Muriel Bowser

Washington, DC, September 2, 2016 – The recently fired DC Department of General Services (DGS)
Associate Director for Contracting and Procurement has hired The Chambers Firm amid a planned
investigation by Councilwoman Mary Cheh into possible corruption by District government officials.
Yinka T. Alao, a 10-year DC employee who previously led the “Procurement Integrity and Compliance
Office” for the city’s Office of Contracting and Procurement, was abruptly placed on administrative leave
on the 15th of August and separated from the government earlier this week after he approved the bid of
Gilbane Building Co. (Gilbane), one of the nation’s biggest construction firms, to redevelop the St.
Elizabeth’s East Campus – the future site of the Washington Wizards Basketball practice facility.

Gilbane’s approved bid was roughly $6 million and about $10 million less than the bid submitted by a
major longtime donor to D.C. Mayor Muriel Browser, Fort Meyer Construction (FMC). FMC’s bid was
not chosen. Despite the fact that Mr. Alao’s decision saved 10 million taxpayer dollars, he was
summarily terminated after FMC apparently complained to Mayor Bowser’s administration.

Darrell Chambers, principal attorney at The Chambers Firm, indicated this is the kind of case that matters
to all District employees and the residents of DC. He further stated:

Mr. Alao is and has been a dedicated public servant in the District government for the last
ten years. It is outrageous that the Mayor and City Administrator's offices may have chosen
to sacrifice him to appease a campaign contributor that lost out on city contracts, one of
which would have cost District residents $10 million additional dollars over the winner's
bid. I commend the former DGS Director, Rear Admiral Christopher Weaver (Ret. USN),
in taking a principled stance by not following the City Administrator's direction to fire Mr.
Alao in contravention of DC law. What I find particularly perplexing is if, in fact, the DGS
contracting function was underperforming, why transfer a specialized transportation
procurement from DDOT to DGS for handling? Clearly government officials were
 confident that DGS could handle the contract even though it was outside their typical scope
of responsibilities.

Obviously the statements made by District government officials in the media, painting Mr.
Alao and his colleagues as rogue employees, incompetent in the performance of their
duties, are false and we believe there is documentary proof that he secured legal sufficiency
and followed best practices and his chain of command in making decisions that relate to
this contract. While these statements will eventually be disproved they have nonetheless
already caused, and will continue to cause, mental stress to Mr. Alao and his family along
with damage to Mr. Alao's future employment prospects until such time as this matter is
cleared.

D.C. Council member Mary Cheh has vowed to hold a hearing to investigate the shakeup at DGS.

The Chambers Firm has offices in DC and Silver Spring, Maryland. The principal of the firm, Darrell
Chambers has over 18 years of litigation experience. He is a former Section Chief in the Civil
Litigation Division of the DC Attorney General’s Office.

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If you would like more information about this topic, please contact Darrell Chambers, Esq. at (202) 507-
6273 or email at darrell@chambersfirmdcmd.com.