Airport Project Contractor Files 2nd Lawsuit Against County

The John Wayne Airport expansion project’s prime contractor, which has already sued Orange County for stripping it of a $25-million parking lot and road contract, filed a second lawsuit Friday claiming that the county’s agreement with another company to complete the job is illegal and void.

The contractor, Taylor Woodrow Construction California Ltd., claims in the lawsuit that an indemnity agreement absolving the new parking lot contractor, McCarthy Brothers construction company, from liability on the project, violates state law in part because it places too much potential liability on the county’s shoulders.

The company also claims that the county’s agreement to pay McCarthy Brothers as much as $1.6 million to complete the project violated state competitive bidding requirements, and asks the court to order work on the parking lot halted and allow Taylor Woodrow to finish the job.

Taylor Woodrow lost the parking lot project in May when the County Board of Supervisors voted to strip them of the contract because of construction delays. The company sued the county for breach of contract and is seeking $7.2 million in damages.

Earlier this month, county supervisors awarded the contract to complete the job to Irvine-based McCarthy Brothers, even though Taylor Woodrow claimed that it could finish the job for one-fourth of the $1.6 million the new contractor was asking.

Taylor Woodrow remains the prime contractor on the $62-million airport terminal project.

Lawyers for the county could not be reached Friday, but Supervisor Roger R. Stanton called the suit “a defensive move” intended to assuage the concerns of Taylor Woodrow’s prospective clients.

“They’re probably going to leave this one on the books for years,” Stanton said. “They can . . . say the Orange County situation is unresolved because it’s in litigation.”