An unsuccessful bidder on public contracts cannot sue the winning bidder for interference with prospective economic advantage because the unsuccessful bidder cannot prove that it had an economic relationship with the public entity letting the contract that contains the probability of future economic benefit to the plaintiff. Public contracts are unique, and public entities retain broad discretion to reject all bids. Public entities cannot give preference to any bidder based on past dealings. In this highly regulated setting, a bidder has at most a hope for a future economic relationship and a desire for a future economic benefit, but no probability of such a benefit.
California Supreme Court (Corrigan, J.); February 16, 2017; 2017 WL 631765