Coolidge Construction Verdict in Favor of Huntington Woods Reversed by Michigan Court of Appeals

Now in the fifth year of the legal battle with engineering firm Orchard, Hiltz & McCliment, Inc., the City of Huntington Woods received a setback this month from the Michigan Court of Appeals.

On May 10, the court’s decision was announced to reverse the jury’s previous verdict in the favor of the city and against OHM. The jury's decision had awarded the city nearly $700,000 for professional negligence after the city complained about the deterioration of a road OHM had recently paved.

City Manager Alex Allie said Monday afternoon that the city will decide on its next steps in June.

“We have not yet met with our attorney, but I assume we will appeal it,” he said, adding that more information will become clear after the June 19 City Commission meeting.

Revisiting the case

Since April, Allie said they were waiting on the decision from the Court of Appeals concerning the settlement the city has been seeking after the work OHM completed to repave Coolidge in 2001 had begun falling apart just a few years later.

In the fall of 2001, the city had agreed to add a 4-inch asphalt cap to the east side of Coolidge in order to match the road elevation of the west lanes the City of Oak Park just had reconstructed. While Oak Park opted for concrete for it's shared portion of Coolidge Highway (which remains in decent condition today), Allie says the asphalt on Huntington Woods’ side began to show major signs of damage quickly, leading to the new construction project going on now.

Huntington Woods sued the contractor and engineers for the approximate cost of the project and though the city later settled with the contractor outside of court, the case against OHM went to trial in March 15, 2010, C&G News reported. 

That’s when the Oakland County Circuit Court jury ruled in favor of Huntington Woods for $700,000 in damages—the decision now reversed after OHM appealed.  

What went wrong

As the court’s recent decision report explains, the city sued in 2007 for a “breach of contract,” alleging that OHM breached the OHM contracts by providing negligent design, inspection or supervision of the workers and negligent testing of materials as it in defective pavement in the Huntington Woods portion of the project.

It was later decided, however, that professional negligence more accurately described the case being brought against OHM and the jury then ruled in favor of Huntington Woods, though OHM appealed.

The court’s latest ruling reflects a lack of “expert testimony” for the city’s case, according to the document:

“In conclusion, Huntington Woods failed to present expert testimony that OHM’s failure to comply with the final plans and specifications was a breach of the standard of care or was a cause of its damages. Accordingly, defendant was entitled to a directed verdict or JNOV.  We reverse the order of judgment and remand for entry of judgment in favor of defendant.”

What the reversal means now

With the condition of Coolidge Highway, city officials agreed from the beginning that a new project to repave the road was in order.

Larry Harworth, project manager from the Huntington Woods Department of Public Works, said at the start that the project is much more promising this time around.

“That street needs to be repaired, there’s no doubt about it,” he explained back in April.  “The improvements, especially Coolidge, have long-term benefits for the city and the new roads should last another two decades.”

To fund the 2012 project, residents approved a $2 million bond for the paving and water main replacement project, which also includes sections of LaSalle and Huntington. 

Since it wasn’t the plan to wait on potential settlement money to fund the project to repave Coolidge a second time, this latest Court of Appeals setback has no financial consequences on the new construction work, Allie explained.

He told C&G News in April that since the case could eventually wind up before the Michigan Supreme Court, the city wasn’t counting on using the money to repave Coolidge again.

 “It’s important for people to know that there is no correlation whatsoever between the lawsuit and this construction work. We had to repair the road anyway, so hopefully we’ve found a contractor who will do a great job and get in and out of there as quickly as possible,” he said.

Stay with Patch for updates on the case after the June 19 City Commission meeting.