Arbitrator Will Decide Center Excavator’s Suit

The San Diego convention center is more than half finished and the number of bookings is ahead of projections, but one problem still dogs the facility: the multimillion-dollar lawsuit filed by the contractor who excavated the site two years ago.

The contractor, HuntCor of Phoenix, was hired by the San Diego Unified Port District at a cost of $5.2 million. But a series of problems, ranging from flooding at the below-sea level construction site to obstacles caused by underground utilities significantly delayed completion of the project.

HuntCor blamed the Port District, saying it did not not provide proper plans, and the Port District in turn accused the company of not properly performing its task, at one point describing work at the site as “amateur hour down there.”

In September, 1987, HuntCor filed suit against the Port District in U.S. District Court. The suit asked $11.1 million in damages and $20 million in punitive damages.

But, earlier this month, the two sides agreed to take the case to binding arbitration, meaning they select a mutually acceptable arbitrator--most likely a retired judge--to hear the lawsuit.

The court earlier dismissed HuntCor’s claim for $20 million in punitive damages, leaving the arbitrator to decide the fate of the remaining claim for $11.1 million in damages.

“This process will be shorter and far less expensive,” said HuntCor lawyer Tom Maser, a Palo Alto-based attorney, who says he hopes the arbitration hearings can begin sometime in October, though there is possibility they won’t occur until early next year.

Joe Patello, staff attorney for the Port District, said his agency decided to seek arbitration for the same reasons HuntCor did. “We want to get on with this,” said Patello.