Costello: Have you got a contract with the first baseman ?

Abbott: Absolutely.

Costello: Who signs the contract?

Abbott: Well, Naturally!

Costello: When you pay the first baseman every month, who gets the money?

Abbott: Every dollar. Why not? The man's entitled to it. (2)

Imagine that you are in your office, when a contracting officer (CO) contacts you with a sexual harassment question. You remind the CO that you are a contracts attorney and offer to refer her to the labor counselor. She laughs, but insists that this is a contracts matter and begins telling you about a sexual harassment lawsuit against a government contractor. The CO tells you that on 18 November 1999, the Directorate of Contracting, Fort Bragg, North Carolina awarded Contract ABC123-45-99-C-0001 to XYZ, Inc. (3) (XYZ), a government and commercial contractor. Fort Bragg awarded XYZ a cost plus fixed-fee contract for labor, management, supervision, supplies, materials, equipment, tools, services supporting family housing maintenance and repair activities, and occupant self-help activities at Fort Bragg. (4)

The CO tells you that an XYZ employee, Ms. B, filed a lawsuit against XYZ alleging that she was fired as a reprisal for her complaints of sexual harassment. (5) That is all that the CO can tell you, because Ms. B has since settled the suit, and is now bound by the settlement's confidentiality agreement. (6) XYZ is requesting money for legal fees, and the CO wants to know if she should pay them.