TesTech Inc. is suing a second state agency over efforts to strip the Washington Twp. engineering firm of its eligibility for programs that give disadvantaged and minority-owned companies preference in obtaining lucrative government contracts.

TesTech filed the lawsuit Friday in Franklin County Common Pleas Court against the Ohio Department of Administrative Services, asking the court to stop ODAS from trying to eject TesTech from the Minority Business Enterprise and Encouraging Diversity Growth and Equity programs.

The lawsuit mirrors a Jan. 11 suit the company filed against the Ohio Department of Transportation, which is trying to remove TesTech from the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program.

Each of the programs gives businesses special access to government contracts.

“We have since entered into positive negotiations with ODOT following our (legal) complaint, and we’re hoping that this action will also prompt similar negotiations with ODAS,” TesTech President Sherif Aziz said in a prepared statement.

The two state agencies called TesTech’s eligibility into question because of facts uncovered by an October investigation by the Dayton Daily News. The newspaper found that wealthy developer David Oakes and his wife, luxury home builder Shery Oakes, signed official documents with government agencies saying they — and not Aziz — owned and controlled TesTech. The Oakeses are not eligible for DBE certification.

Meanwhile, ODAS has given Shery Oakes’ Design Homes and Development Corp. until Feb. 3 to reapply for the MBE program, which rewards minority ownership, again because of information revealed in the Daily News stories. “Due to recent allegations reported by the Dayton Daily News, the ownership of your company and its status as an MBE have been called into question,” an ODAS official said in a Dec. 23 letter to Shery Oakes.

Her attorney did not return a phone call seeking comment.

ODAS spokesman Eric Hagely said he could not comment on pending litigation.

In July, FBI and federal transportation agents seized documents from TesTech during a raid on the Galleria, the Washington Twp. headquarters of TesTech and Oakes-owned companies CESO Inc. and Design Homes.

Earlier this month, ODAS spokeswoman Molly O’Reilly said Aziz did not provide required documentation to keep the MBE status, and the department is now determining “whether to revoke TesTech’s certifications.”

In Friday’s lawsuit, TesTech cites that quote, which appeared in the Daily News, and asked the Franklin County court for a temporary restraining order and permanent injunction against the state’s effort to revoke TesTech’s MBE and EDGE certifications. TesTech attorney Dwight Hurd said in an attached letter that the company agreed to provide documentation.

ODOT had been trying to decertify TesTech as a DBE since the federal government asked it to do so in early 2011, questioning whether Aziz was the true owner and whether he was disadvantaged. In late 2011, ODOT determined TesTech was no longer eligible and informed it that Aziz would be decertified, according to the state’s response to TesTech’s lawsuit. He appealed Jan. 17.

“TesTech will be afforded the same opportunity to have a hearing in front of an independent officer just like any other DBE firm,” ODOT spokesman Steve Faulkner said.

Contact these reporters at (937) 225-7455 or lhulsey@ DaytonDailyNews.com and (937) 225-2264 or tbeyerlein@DaytonDailyNews.com.