On Friday, Metro lost its lawsuit in St. Louis County Circuit Court over costly delays on the light-rail line from Forest Park to Shrewsbury.
The agency had sought more than $80 million in damages. It was awarded $0.
Instead, jurors returned verdicts in favor of the Cross County Collaborative, a team of four contractors that was responsible for the design and construction of the extension.
The joint venture of Kwame Building Group Inc., Parsons Brinckerhoff, STV Inc. and Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. received $2.56 million of its $7 million counterclaim for work it says it performed but was not paid at the time it was fired.
Tony Thompson, president and CEO of Kwame Building Group – a national leader among minority-owned development firms – said the verdict is a move forward in helping his company repair its unfairly tarnished reputation.
He said his St. Louis-based construction firm has lost about 50 of its estimated 105 employees since Metro filed suit against them in August 2004.
“It may take me up to four years to repair the damage that’s been done,” Thompson said. “But I am optimistic. The verdict of this trial gave me new life.”
Metro, formerly known as the Bi-State Development Agency, fired the CCC for delays and overruns on its cross-county system in 2004. The agency took over the project and immediately filed suit in St. Louis County Circuit Court citing fraud, negligence and breach of contract.
The eight-mile MetroLink line from Forest Park to Shrewsbury was opened in August 2006 – 15 months late and $126 million over budget.
Metro, led by President and CEO Larry Salci, said the CCC was largely to blame for delays. Metro attorneys alleged the group was responsible for as much as $55 million in extra costs for the project.
But the CCC maintained Metro’s attacks were unwarranted.
Defense attorneys claimed Salci and former executive president Steve Knobbe planned to fire the CCC and make them a scapegoat for Metro’s inexperience and naïve judgments.
The collaborative said the project was moving along smoothly in its early months. But a series of setbacks, such as problems relocating utilities, obtaining permits and purchasing real estate – none of which the CCC was originally contracted to do – derailed the project in 2002 and 2003.
Salci reportedly told the Post-Dispatch that he was disappointed “beyond comprehension” with the jury’s verdict. However, he said he did not regret the agency’s decision to pursue the expensive lawsuit.
Dianne Williams, Metro director of communications, told the American that Metro is not commenting on the case.
Ronnie White, former Missouri Supreme Court justice and an attorney for the CCC, said, “The case proved what the members of the CCC had contended for four years – that they had done nothing wrong and they had not been given the chance to complete the contract by Metro.”
The CCC plans to file a counterclaim against Metro next week to recover legal fees spent defending themselves.
Both sides have reportedly spent millions of dollars on accountants and expert witnesses during the three-month legal battle.
No decision has been made whether Metro will appeal, media reports say.
In the longest-running civil case in St. Louis County history, jurors heard from more than 80 witnesses and reviewed hundreds of documents from both sides.
They began deliberations on the evening of Nov. 26 and returned their verdicts Friday, Nov. 30 at 2 p.m. – 100 days after the trial began on Aug. 22.
The verdict comes at an equivocal time for Metro and could prove damaging to its credibility.
“The trial itself has small financial consequences, but it could potentially have large political consequences,” said Mike Jones, executive assistant to County Executive Charlie Dooley.
After losing a major lawsuit and apparently calling St. Louisans clowns, Salci has come under stern criticism in recent months and his continued tenure is being questioned.
His fate as the leader of Metro reportedly will be discussed Friday, Dec. 7 at Metro’s Board of Comissioners meeting. The meeting will be at Metro’s Headquarters, 707 North First Street on the 6th Floor Board Room.
Salci has been president of Metro for six years and just signed a five-year contract in July.
On Feb. 5, St. Louis County voters will be asked to increase the transit sales tax by a half-cent to pay for future MetroLink expansions and to fund ongoing operations. The tax would generate about $80 million a year and be in effect for 20 years.
St. Louis County voters opposed the increase in 1997.
Jones said, “My hope is that the verdict will have a marginal impact on the election and that voters will keep in mind the best long-term interest of the system.”
