New Suit Fridays 8-21-2009
The round-up this week:
In Dunnet Bay Construction Co. v. Angus Contractors, Inc., et al., the compliant alleges that the defendants, an engineering firm and a steel erecting contractor are responsible for the damage to the plaintiff’s bridge project for the IDOT. The allegations are made in the alternative against the defendants where claims for some of the same damages were filed with IDOT. According to the plaintiff, its property was damaged during the construction of ramps connecting I-80/294 to I-94 and I-394 in Lansing, Illinois, when a section of the bridge at that site collapsed while it was being erected. The GC sues the engineer that designed the project for negligence (they must believe that the sudden and calamitous nature of the collapse or damage to “other property” creates an exception to the economic loss doctrine) claiming, among other things, that it failed to issue modified specifications for the erection of the bridge since the bridge was a complex curved structure and the IDOT Standard Specifications were not appropriate for the erection. The GC also alleges that the steel subcontractor breached its contract by refusing to indemnify and defend the GC for the actions and damages that resulted from the collapse.
In Thienes v. Planned Property Management, Inc., the complaint seeks a class action against a property management and leasing company on behalf of apartment renters. The damages sought against the apartment leasing company are for the alleged failure of the company to provide those renting apartments with a “lawful” summary of the Chicago Residential Landlord Tenant Ordinance including porch safety language and mandatory interest rate disclosures for the interest the tenants would earn on their security deposits, and for failing to disclose the building code violations that had occurred at the rented properties within the 12 prior to the execution of the leases.
In Wyndham Club Condo. Assoc. v. McHugh, the complaint alleges that a resident in a condo association has a dog that attacked another resident’s dog and that the Association has a by-law requiring the removal of any pet that creates a nuisance. The condo association filed a suit against he unit owner with the dog that attacked the other dog to have the dog removed from the property and to have the unit owner pay for all the costs that the Association has incurred in pursuing the matter.