In a court room U-turn in Seattle, TBM manufacturer Herrenknecht Corporation, US division of German company Herrenknecht AG, has had most of a $5.8M award against it in the case against US contractor Frank Coluccio Construction vacated (News February 2001).
Judge Suzanne Barnette, Seattle King County Superior Court, was reported in the US press as saying that in awarding the substantial economic damages the arbitrator in the case, Greg Harris, had exceeded his authority.
The case hinges around Coluccio’s claims that a Herrenknecht microtunnelling TBM the contractor used was defective. Herrenknecht claims that Coluccio had used the machine in unsuitable ground conditions.
The award by Harris of $5.8M to Coluccio in November 2000 forced Herrenknecht to file for bankruptcy protection in December that year.
Coluccio attorney, Sam Baker, has said that Coluccio will fight the decision and will also seek chapter 7 liquidation of Herrenknecht as $1M of the award to the contractor is still outstanding.
