New Suit Friday for March 19, 2010
From time to time we will report on new cases that have been filed that are related to the construction industry.
Walsh Construction has filed suit against the City of Chicago requesting that the court declare that bids submitted by two other contractors for the Congress Parkway Interchange Improvements project are non-responsive and that its own bid is responsive. In addition, Walsh is seeking an order enjoining the City from accepting either of the two bids.
Walsh, along with Paschen/Cabo and James McHugh, submitted a bid for the Congress Parkway Interchange Improvements project. It is Walsh's contention that the City of Chicago violated its own Municipal Purchasing Act by even considering the other bids because they were non-responsive to the Bid Deposit specification. Paschen/Cabo is alleged to have filed to include a bid deposit of any kind and McHugh is alleged to have provided the bid deposit in the form of a company check rather than the required certified check, cashier's check or money order. Walsh alleges that it complied with the specification and, therefore, submitted the sole responsible and responsive bid. It should also be noted that the Paschen/Cabo and McHugh bids were lower than Walsh's bid for the project.
We will continue to monitor this litigation and report on any important details.
Just last week, a personal injury complaint was filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County against unknown architects, engineers, and designers of Golf Road in Des Plaines, Illinois. The complaint, filed on behalf of Plaintiff Magdalena Walus, alleges that she was injured in a motor vehicle accident caused by an icy roadway on Golf Road near the Des Plaines River. Specifically, the complaint alleges that Golf Road, where it meets the Des Plaines River, regularly floods with river water and freezes, causing dangerous conditions. Furthermore, the complaint alleges that defendants had knowledge that such flooding took place at the time of designing, engineering, planning and constructing Golf Road and willfully disregarded said knowledge.
The complaint includes the City of Des Plaines, Cook County, and the State of Illinois as respondents in discovery and seeks discovery from those entities regarding similar motor vehicle accidents in the past in the same area.
The case presents interesting issues regarding the standard of care applicable to design professionals.
