ANAHEIM : Council Votes to Sue Sony Over Scoreboard

The city plans to sue Sony Corp. and several other parties involved in the construction and installation of the 17-ton Jumbotron scoreboard, which toppled during the Jan. 17, 1993, Northridge earthquake, city officials said Wednesday.

The City Council met in closed session this week and unanimously voted to sue for unspecified damages and loss in advertising revenue. The amount could reach $11 million, City Atty. Jack White said.

White said the council’s vote was a way for the city to “cover our bases” in case its insurance carrier doesn’t fully reimburse it for the more than $10 million in damage to the stadium. So far, the city has received more than $3 million in insurance money.

When the Sony Jumbotron scoreboard fell during the pre-dawn earthquake, it put about 1,000 seats in the stadium’s upper left-field deck out of commission. Hundreds of people could have been killed if a stadium event had been taking place.

Anaheim Stadium was the only structure in Orange County significantly damaged in the quake. It cost $10,118,302 to repair the stadium damage.

The lawsuit, which is expected to be filed in Orange County Superior Court within two weeks, will name Sony and others hired by the company to do design or installation work.

Sony officials on Wednesday declined comment.

“As a basic company policy, we don’t comment on matters that we anticipate will be subject to litigation,” said Rick Clancy, vice president of corporate communications for Sony Electronics Inc., a division of the Sony Corp. that manufactured the Jumbotron.