School District sued for post-Isaac payment of $100K
Published 12:10 am Wednesday, August 10, 2016
- A dispute involving the St. John the Baptist Parish School Board over property restoration after Hurricane Isaac is headed to court.
LAPLACE — A dispute involving the St. John the Baptist Parish School Board over property restoration after Hurricane Isaac is headed to court.
According to The Louisiana Record, Contents Recovery Experts filed a complaint last month in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana against the School Board, alleging breach of contract and unjust enrichment.
According to The Louisiana Record report, the complaint said the plaintiff was contracted in 2012 through CSRS Disaster Recovery Management to clean and restore property that was damaged by Hurricane Isaac.
The plaintiff claims it provided the mitigation services and billed, through Servicemaster Restore of Lafayette, the amount of $100,613.35. The plaintiff holds St. John The Baptist Parish Board of Education responsible because the defendant allegedly failed to pay the amount.
St. John Schools Superintendent Kevin George said the School Board is aware of the lawsuit, adding the disagreement has been left unsettled for years.
“It is for some work that happened right after Hurricane Isaac,” George said.
“They are claiming that we still owe them some money. Anytime you deal with a FEMA job, there are certain procedures and things you have to do. In our opinion they have not done some of those things. We are not going to get into all of the specifics. That will be handled in court.”
George said the matter is now in the hands of the School Board’s legal department, adding school leaders will take the issue “as far as it needs to go because we feel we are right.”
“We’ll see which one of us the judge decides is right,” George said.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks judgment for $100,613.35, plus the cost of collection and filing this suit, attorneys’ fees, court costs, and legal interest and for all other just and equitable relief.
Andrew A. Lemmon and Scott J. Falgoust of Lemmon Law Firm LLC in Hahnville represent the plaintiff.
George said the Becnel Law Firm handles the School Board’s litigation cases, adding Kevin Klibert is the case’s lead attorney.
