Schools left as sole defendant in suit

11/16/2005

Only the Perrysburg School District remains as a defendant after a decision yesterday in a federal lawsuit seeking payment of $1.85 million for masonry work at the district's high school.

U.S. District Court Judge James Carr dismissed Rudolph/Libbe, the construction manager for the high school construction project, as a defendant.

The judge ruled Epicentre Strategic Corp., a Michigan financial company that filed suit in 2004, was never assigned the rights to Riverside Masonry LLC's claim against the construction manager. The masonry firm is no longer in business.

The suit claims inadequate planning of the high school construction caused Riverside Masonry to spend an extra two months on the project and accumulate an extra 20,000 hours of labor. Construction on the school began in the spring of 2000, and the building opened as scheduled in August, 2001.

Rudolph/Libbe, the school district, and Fanning/Howey Associates Inc., the architect on the project, were the original defendants. The complaint against the architectural firm was dismissed in March.