Holland & Knight Delivers $35.8 Million Judgment to Client Ground Improvement Techniques, Inc.
August 24, 2006
Suzanne E. Gilbert- Orlando
Brian A. McDowell- Orlando
Samuel "Sam" Zusmann- Orlando
ORLANDO, Fla. – Holland & Knight LLP has delivered a $35.8 million judgment to Florida-based client Ground Improvement Techniques, Inc. (GIT) after prevailing in a three-week jury trial in Denver led by Holland & Knight Orlando construction litigation partner Steve Schooley. Other members on the Holland & Knight team included Orlando partners Cynthia Brennan Ryan, Brian McDowell, Suzanne Gilbert, Greg Johansen and Sam Zusmann.
On August 16, the United States District Court in Denver, Colorado accepted the unanimous verdict of a 12-member jury finding that GIT was owed over $35.8 million for unpaid construction services and interest for cleaning up an abandoned uranium site.
In September 1995, GIT was improperly terminated by the U.S. Government’s construction manager, Morrison Knudsen Corporation, removing the company from a U.S. Department of Energy Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) Project at Slick Rock, Colorado. The failed project involved the clean-up of the famous nuclear site used by Madame Marie Curie and which provided the lethal uranium for the United States’ first atomic bombs created in the Manhattan Project of World War II.
The Colorado jury found that the U.S. Government improperly directed GIT to proceed with its work without obtaining access to the uranium site, without obtaining the required construction permits, and without a completed design. Rather than admit the error, the U.S. Department of Energy directed that GIT be terminated and then attempted to drive the company and its subcontractors into bankruptcy.
"Millions of dollars in undisputed amounts were admittedly due GIT," said Holland & Knight''s Schooley. "The trial evidence demonstrated that the U.S. Government turned a $9 million contract into a $35.8 million judgment by wrongfully attempting to economically destroy GIT and its subcontractors to cover up government errors. We are tremendously pleased with the outcome of the trial and the judgment for our client."
Contact: Susan Bass, (813) 769-4326