County to Pay Builder of Jail $2.2 Million to Settle Lawsuit

Los Angeles County supervisors agreed Tuesday to pay $2.2 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the company that built the newest jail at the Peter J. Pitchess Honor Rancho in Castaic.

The Boise, Ida.-based contractor, Morrison-Knudsen, contends that the county was responsible for delays in completing the 1,600-bed medium-security facility that ultimately required the company to devote more time and work to the project. The $16-million jail was finished in October, 1987, 96 days behind schedule.

Morrison-Knudsen blamed the delay on faulty designs and claimed that the county owed it $7 million more for additional labor and overhead not included in the original contract. A lawsuit to recoup the money was filed in September, 1988.

In a report to supervisors last month, Internal Services Department Director William F. Stewart said a detailed analysis by his department, a construction management consultant, county counsel and a private law firm representing the county showed that Morrison-Knudsen’s claim had some merit. Negotiations to settle the lawsuit out of court have been under way for about a year.

Morrison-Knudsen’s attorney, Jack W. Fleming, could not be reached for comment Tuesday, but the report to supervisors notes that both parties agreed to settle the case for $2.2 million.

Jim Abbott, the Internal Services Department’s senior deputy director for construction, said the design phase of the project, which normally takes up to one year, was completed in several weeks because the county was under a court order to relieve overcrowding at its downtown Los Angeles jail.

Had more time been available to review the drawings, errors would have been found and corrected before the construction phase of the project, Abbott said.

The design problems were compounded by a change in project managers during the third month of construction, Abbott said. The county’s original manager died.