South-Central : Firm Claims Church Owes It $24,000

A hearing will be held in Municipal Court next week on a Hawthorne company’s claim that Mt. Tabor Baptist Church failed to pay a $24,000 bill for installation of doors and windows.

Pedrino Window & Door filed the breach-of-contract lawsuit in June, 1993, against the church, the Rev. E. E. Stafford and the church’s board of trustees.

The dispute began in December, 1992, after the company installed windows, special handicapped hardware and fireproof doors at the church at 6614 Western Ave., according to Fran Oatridge, who co-owns the company with her husband, Les Oatridge.

The Oatridges allege that the church and Stafford have made no payments on the $24,000 bill, despite repeated attempts to establish a payment schedule.

Stafford and church leaders did not return calls seeking comment.

“They are a small business and a small business can’t afford a $24,000 loss on one job in a short time,” said Benjamin Robinson, the Oatridges’ attorney.

Meanwhile, Fran Oatridge said the dispute put the family-owned business in jeopardy.

“We were spending money paying for salaries and material and we weren’t getting money in,” she said. “Pretty soon there were liens on our properties. Now we can’t charge anything with our creditors and we’re just trying to keep up.”

The case is scheduled to be heard in Division 3 of Municipal Court June 27.