Several Fort Lauderdale business owners filed suit against Florida Power & Light (FPL) and a contractor that they hired to perform work for them in Broward Circuit Court over the summer. The five companies lost significant business when the contractor pierced a hole in a water pipe causing a water main to break in the city on July 17.
In the lawsuit, the companies outline how FPL was slated to repair underground electrical lines. That activity wasn’t supposed to impact their businesses, but it ultimately did when the electric company’s contractor Florida Communication Concepts (FCC) inadvertently pierced a 42-inch water main with a 6-inch hole.
The contractor’s mistake led to water being shut off to over 220,000 residents throughout many Fort Lauderdale neighborhoods including Tamarac, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Wilton Manors, Oakland Park, Port Everglades and Davie.
Five restaurants that filed suit against FPL and FCC include Phat Boy Sushi, S3, Runway 84, Andy’s Live Fire & Grill Bar and YOLO. They claim that they lost as much as $100,000 in revenue because of the water shutoff. An area law firm also joined the suit. They argue that they lost about $7,000 in revenue because of the incident.
When asked about their reason for filing suit, one of the restaurant operators pointed out that this water main break left significant portions of the city crippled. They argue that they filed suit to ensure that such an incident doesn’t happen again.
Sunshine 811 records show that the contractor alerted them before digging to identify buried utilities. However, they gave the operator a different address from where they were going to be performing their work.
The plaintiffs lay blame on the City of Fort Lauderdale for improperly maintaining their infrastructure. They haven’t filed suit against them by the time the article was published in the news media. They also accuse FPL of failing to adequately supervise their contractors.
Disputes with construction companies or contractors are often complex. The burden falls on the plaintiff’s shoulders to prove that a defendant was negligent. If they successfully do that, then they can recover damages from them.
Liability is often not cut and dried. This is why you should have a construction litigation attorney in Melbourne who has experience in resolving a wide of issues handle your case. This is the only way that you’ll be able to manage costs and achieve timely results in your Florida legal matter.
