Verdicts / Settlements - Plaintiffs

The County of Nye v. Modern Controls & Refrigeration Inc., et al.

Verdict I Settlement (breakdown)

Sources said the total settlement amount is $1.85 million

Sources said the defendants agreed to pay the following amounts: Interstate Mechanical Corp., $475,000; Modern Controls & Refrigeration Inc., $375,000; Delta Controls, $75,000; Leland Dille Architects, $100,000; Engineered Systems Associates, $150,000; Intermountain Construction Inc., $625,000; and the Trane Co., $15,000.

Plaintiff(s)

The County of Nye

Defendant(s)

Interstate Mechanical Corp., Modern Controls & Refrigeration Inc., Delta Controls, Leland Dillie Architect Chartered, PCI, Engineered Systems Associates, Intermountain Construction Inc. and The Trane Co.

Date

Nov. 2, 2004

Claim

The County of Nye, Nev., maintained that there were mold problems within the Nye County Justice Complex, which opened in July 1999.

Defense

Sources said the contractor defendants maintain that mold rernediation contractor Terra Nova was negligent in performing initial remediation, which resulted in additional remediation and increased costs. Sources also said that the countys method of testing the mold contamination within the building was flawed and not performed by an adequate expert and that the defendants were not notified of the testing. The defendants further argued that the county failed to rule out other possibilities for the cause of the alleged injuries to the employees. Finally, the defendants argued that the county acted unreasonably in its approach to remediating the building by relocating the employees; instead, the building could have been remediated in sections, the defendants argued.

Background

Sources said 36 employees at the complex filed complaints in 1999 with the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Sources said that in 2001, the county undertook a comprehensive mold investigation that resulted in the county temporarily closing the complex and relocating the employees.

According to sources, the county says it spent a total of $3.5 million on remediation, relocation of employees and investigation.

Nye County alleged in its 2002 complaint that the defendants negligence caused "continuous water leaks and water intrusion into the interior of the Pahrump Justice Center" that resulted in "damage to the interior of the facility as well as causing the amplification and proliferation of toxic molds throughout the building forcing Plaintiff to evacuate the building occupants, relocate the government operations to alternate facilities and incur substantial investigation, repair and remediation expenses."

Plaintiff experts

Occupational medical specialist James Cramer, M.D., Reno, Nev.; consulting engineer Malcolm Lewis, CTG Forensics, Irvine, Calif.; construction expert Ed Martinet, MC Consultants, Carlsbad, Calif..

Defense Experts

Interstate Mechanical - George Swink, Southwest Consulting Group Inc., San Diego; construction consultant Thomas A. Davis, Madsen Kneppers & Associates, San Diego; Andrew Saxon, M.D., Division of Clinical Immunology/Allergy of the University of California, Los Angeles; industrial hygienist Coreen Robins, MHS, Ph.D., CIH, Redmond, Wash.; toxicologist Bruce Kelman, Ph.D., DABT, Clobal Tox, Redmond, Wash..