• A Missouri state employee is suing the state, alleging favoritism in awarding IT contracts to World Wide Technology.
• The employee claims World Wide Technology, a company with ties to a prominent political donor, received contracts despite not always having the lowest bid.
• The employee claims he was demoted after raising concerns about the bidding process.

The Missouri attorney general’s office is asking a Cole County judge to dismiss a lawsuit alleging a state agency violated competitive bidding laws to steer lucrative technology contracts to a well-connected company.

The lawsuit, filed in May by a longtime state employee named Rodney Rice, alleges “deliberate bias” toward St. Louis-based World Wide Technology in awarding state IT contracts.

World Wide Technology is one of the largest privately-held companies in the country. It was founded by David Steward, a prolific Missouri political donor who has contributed $2.3 million to mostly Republican campaigns over the last decade.

The company has been paid $53 million by the state over the past two years.

The state gave World Wide Technology numerous unfair advantages over its competitors, Rice alleges in his lawsuit, violating state procurement law and exposing the state to potential liability if anyone found out.

When he brought his concerns to his supervisors, Rice alleges he was admonished for being an “obstructionist” and demoted.

Both World Wide Technology and the Office of Administration, which handles contracting for...

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