Waltham’s Global Partners takes MassDOT to court for violating public records law

Global Partners, an independent energy supplier and retail operator based in Massachusetts, has filed a lawsuit against the Massachusetts Department of Transportation in Suffolk Superior Court. 

The company alleges that MassDOT violated state public records laws by failing to provide documents related to the 35-year service plaza lease awarded to Applegreen, an Irish company backed by Blackstone Infrastructure Partners. MassDOT aims to sign the contract by early November.

Global Partners argues that its proposal would have brought in $1 billion more in revenue for the state. Furthermore, Global Partners alleges that MassDOT chief development officer Scott Bosworth had tried to secure a job with Applegreen’s parent company Blackstone Infrastructure Partners just before the bidding process began.

MassDOT and Applegreen say Applegreen’s proposal was stronger and included investing $750 million in building new service plazas across the state.

In a statement, Blackstone said “there is absolutely no truth to Global Partners’ allegations” about Bosworth.

Global Partners claims it submitted four formal records requests since June seeking communications, evaluations and internal records tied to the lease process. The company alleges that MassDOT did not supply the requested materials within legal time frames and continued lease negotiations with Applegreen out of public view. The agency is aiming to finalize the agreement by early November, according to the complaint.

The lawsuit alleges MassDOT’s failure to comply with multiple requests for records, including:

• Communications between Selection Committee Chair Scott Bosworth and Applegreen, Blackstone and Suffolk Construction
• Conflicts of interest disclosures and recusals
• Text messages, emails and other communications between MassDOT selection committee members and MassDOT board members regarding KPMG’s review of the revenue aspects of the competing proposals

Global Partners said it was notified it was not selected an hour before the selection committee recommended Applegreen for approval. The lawsuit also claims that key disclosures, including internal deliberations, have not been produced or have been withheld.

The company is asking the court to order MassDOT to release all relevant public records and to issue an injunction to prevent further concealment. The suit follows increasing scrutiny of the lease award, including an ethics complaint against Bosworth and calls from lawmakers for oversight hearings and an independent investigation.

In answer to questions from The Waltham Times, a MassDOT spokesperson responded: “MassDOT continues to meet its obligations under the law. We have provided more than 1,200 pages of documents and we continue to work through their many requests as efficiently as possible. These documents show that MassDOT ran a competitive bid process and chose the company that provided the best value and would renovate all service plazas on the fastest timeline. This will mean a better product sooner for all of our customers.”

Global Partners contends that other crucial materials remain unavailable. 

“MassDOT’s conduct threatens the integrity of the entire procurement process,” said Sean Geary, chief legal officer of Global Partners. “The agency has failed to timely comply with the law, ignored red flags throughout the process, and kept the public in the dark as it speeds toward a signing deadline.”