The State of Wisconsin Claims Board denied a request for more than $1.7 million from the company that helped demolish the old Ogg dormitory, citing violations of safety standards that ended their contract.
Dore and Associates had a contract with the Wisconsin Department of Administration that was terminated March 19, 2009 after falling debris crushed a construction worker’s car parked near the building.
According to the decision published by the claims board, CEO of Dore and Associates, Arthur Dore, said the state owes his company money for unpaid work and additional costs the company incurred because of the contract with the DOA.
Dore said in the decision that the DOA demanded the company put up engineered scaffolding systems not required by the contract, adding further costs to the project. Dore said the scaffolding system created significant delays, forcing his company to work into the winter.
Dore added that these delays forced him to work on both towers at the same time to meet his deadline, which prevented him from reusing the scaffolding system from the West tower on the East tower as was originally intended.
Dore said these requirements and delays cost his company more than $750,000.
He also claims the DOA terminated his contract without proper notice. He said in the decision while the DOA did send him a notice raising several issues, the falling concrete block was not one of those issues. This means it was not proper grounds for firing his company and therefore constituted a wrongful termination, for which the DOA owes his company more than $1 million in unpaid work.
A statement from the DOA said Dore and Associates were not meeting the safety guidelines set up by the contract. It adds the DOA brought these issues to Dore’s attention and when things were not fixed, they were terminated.
“The Ogg Hall demolition project called for certain safety measures to protect people and property. These measures were not in place,” the statement said. “The contract was properly terminated following the notice.”
According to the claims board’s decision, the DOA said the scaffolding requirements were set to prevent debris from falling on people or property and the falling concrete block was a result of Dore’s failure to comply with these safety requirements.
The DOA added the project presented “an unacceptable risk to UW’s students, employees and property,” which is why the contract was terminated.
The claims board ultimately ruled not to pay Dore and Associates without a hearing, saying the state did nothing wrong.
“The board concludes there is an insufficient showing of negligence on the part of the state … and this claim is [not] one … which the state should assume and pay based on equitable principles,” the board said in the decision.
Dore declined comment on both the board’s decision and the DOA’s claims, saying the issue may soon be in court.
“We are doing a mediation … so we’ll see where that goes,” Dore said.
