Recent Verdicts & Settlements Edited by Mitchell A. Greenberg


Mitchell A. Greenberg, of the Greenberg Law Office in Baltimore, received his J.D. from the University of Baltimore School of Law. He is a member of MTLA’s Board of Governors and serves as Vice-Chair of MTLA’s Trial Reporter Committee. Mr. Greenberg is a member of MTLA’s Membership Committee and serves as MTLA’s delegate to the Task Force for the Rehabilitation of Injured Workers. He is a member of the Maryland State, Baltimore City, and American Bar Associations and also a member of ATLA. His practice concentrates in workers’ compensation, criminal defense, and serious personal injury.


Contracts


A-1 Roofing, Inc. & Gordon Jenkins v. Gale Associates, Inc. & Greg Cove Circuit Court for Baltimore City No. 24-C-353044 OT


Facts: In the spring of 1996, A-1 Roofing, Inc., (“A-1”) was awarded a contract by the Anne Arundel County School Board (“AACPS”) to perform a re-roofing project known as the Severna Park Middle School Project (“the Project”). The total amount of the contract was $612,665.00. Gale As- sociates, Inc. (“Gale”) contracted with the AACPS to be the architect, design, and engineering consultant for the roofing work that was to be performed by A-1. Gregory Cove (“Cove”) was an employee of Gale Associates, Inc., and was the on-site inspec- tor on the project for Gale and AACPS. Pursuant to the contract, Gale acted as the agent for AACPS. The contract between A-1 and AACPS


provided that work would begin within ten days of A-1’s receipt of a “Notice to Proceed” and required completion within 120 days from the date of the Notice to “Proceed. The project was originally es- timated to begin on or about May 20, 1996 with a completion date estimated to be September, 1996. Ultimately, the start date was delayed until after school was out for the summer and a Notice to Proceed with a start date of June 17, 1996 was supposed to be issued. Unfortunately, an AACPS employee mistakenly used the initial estimated start date and prepared a Notice to Proceed date May 17, 1996 with a start date of May 20, 1996 when pre- paring the contract documents. A-1 was not immediately forwarded a copy of the erroneous Notice to Proceed, but did re- ceive a copy after an inquiry was made by A-1 regarding receipt of its contracts so it could obtain its bonds. On June 3, 1996 a copy of the erroneous Notice to Pro- ceed was faxed to A-1. Some time after June 3, 1996 it was realized by AACPS


Spring 2000 Trial Reporter 23


that the Notice to Proceed contained the wrong date. At that point an attempt to correct to the Notice to Proceed was made with the corrected date of June 17, 1996 being put on the Notice. This corrected date made the date for completion of the project within 120 days from June 17, 1996 or on or before October 14, 1996 plus additional days, which might be ap- plicable because of inclement weather. A-1 never received the June 17, 1996 No- tice to Proceed. The jury found that Gale received a copy of the corrected Notice to Proceed and was aware that the contract completion date was mid October. De- spite having the corrected Notice to Proceed, Gale continued to operate on the project as if the May 17, 1996 Notice to


Proceed governed the 120 day comple- tion requirement. The jury also found that Cove and Gale intentionally slowed the progress of A-1, required unnecessary remedial work, harassed and defamed A- 1 and its employees and improperly recommended termination. Eventually, Cove recommended that A-1 be termi- nated from the project for failure to meet progress schedules. AACPS terminated A-1 after Mr. Cove’s recommendation. A- 1 went out-of-business after termination. At the time of A-1’s termination from the contract, A-1 was under contractual obligation to arbitrate any claims it had against AACPS, arising out of or as a re-


(Continued on page 24)


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