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Case of the Month

West's® Jury Verdicts - Louisiana Reports

Court Awards Construction Company $23.4K in Breach of Contract Suit

Ron Vaccaro Constr. Co. v. SMA Prop.

Type of Case:
Contracts - Breach
Contracts - Construction Contracts

Specific Liability:
Owners failed to pay construction company for work done on a medical office building

General Injury:
Monetary damages

Jurisdiction:
State: Louisiana
Court: District Court of Louisiana, Twenty-second Judicial District, Parish of St. Tammany.

Related Court Documents:
Plaintiff's petition: 2008 WL 8257882
Defendant's answer: 2008 WL 8257883
Defendant's pretrial memorandum: 2010 WL 6001900
Joint pretrial order: 2010 WL 6001901
Judgment: 2011 WL 861138
Reasons for judgment: 2010 WL 6020725

Case Name:
Ron Vaccaro Construction Company Inc. v. SMA Properties LLC

Docket/File Number:
2008-15420

Judgment:
Plaintiff, $23,368.00

Judgment Date:
Feb. 16, 2011

Judge:
William J. Burris

Attorneys:
Plaintiff: Francis R. White III, Francis R. White III APLC, Covington, La.

Defendant: Mark W. Frilot and Wade M. Bass, Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, Mandeville, La.

Experts:
Not reported.

Trial Type:
Bench

Breakdown of Award:
$15,356.00 to plaintiff for damages
$8,012.00 to plaintiff for attorney fees

Summary of Facts:
SMA Properties LLC (SMA) reportedly contracted with Ron Vaccaro Construction Company (Vaccaro), June 6, 2006, to build a medical office building in Covington, La.

The contract apparently provided that upon substantial completion of the work, the contractors would notify the owners and the owners would have three days to provide the contractor with a written punch list consisting of any incomplete items.

The owners allegedly had the right to withhold payment in an amount equal to twice the cost required to complete the work on the punch list.

Vaccaro claimed it presented SMA with written notice of substantial completion in October 2007. SMA reportedly failed to provide Vaccaro with a written punch list within three days of being notified of the project's substantial completion.

Vaccaro said it subsequently presented SMA with a clear lien and privilege certificate, Dec. 3, 2007. According to Vaccaro, SMA was then obligated to pay it the remaining amount due under the contract; however, SMA allegedly failed to do so.

Vaccaro said it repeatedly requested payment from SMA over the next few months and SMA gave a variety of reasons for not making the payment. SMA reportedly did not, however, identify any work it claimed Vaccaro had failed to perform properly or failed to complete. SMA also allegedly never asked Vaccaro to perform any remedial work.

At some point after Vaccaro completed the work for SMA, SMA allegedly substantially upgraded the parking lot at the building and replaced the limestone lot which had been set forth in the contract with a paved parking lot. Vaccaro claimed SMA had used the monies due to Vaccaro to fund the alleged improvement.

In August 2008, ten months after SMA was required to provide a punch list and eight months after it was required to make final payment, Vaccaro said an attorney for SMA asserted for the first time payment was being withheld due to improper work.

Vaccaro filed a lawsuit against SMA in the Twenty-second Judicial District Court for the Parish of St. Tammany in October 2008. In its petition, the plaintiff alleged the defendant's failure to pay constituted a breach of contract. Vaccaro asserted it was owed $15,356 and was entitled to interest at the rate of 12 percent under the terms of the contract.

In its answer filed Dec. 4, 2008, the defendant generally denied the plaintiff's allegations. It asserted several affirmative defenses, including that Vaccaro had failed to mitigate its damages, and that the plaintiff's claims were barred, in whole or in part, by the contract, and by the doctrines of acceptance, waiver, set-off, estoppel, and/or laches.

The defendant also filed a reconventional demand against the plaintiff, alleging that there were numerous defects in Vaccaro's performance and that the plaintiff did not perform its work in a timely manner. SMA requested compensation for the damages it had incurred due to the plaintiff's alleged delayed and defective performance.

The matter proceeded to a bench trial before Judge William J. Burris in December 2010. In a judgment signed Feb. 16, 2011, Judge Burris found in favor of the plaintiff and against the defendant.

The court awarded Vaccaro $15,356 in damages, as well as interest at the rate of 12 percent per annum. The plaintiff also received attorney fees totaling $8,012, and all costs of court.

Court: District Court of Louisiana, Twenty-second Judicial District, Parish of St. Tammany.

Westlaw Citation:
2011 WL 5189944

West's Jury Verdicts - Louisiana Reports Citation:
West’s J.V. La. Rep., Vol. 7, Iss. 5, p. 22 (2011)