Ring Bender attorneys Patrick (“Kit”) Bobko, Norman (“Norm”) Dupont and Jay Tufano recently won an appeal reversing an adverse judgment against a municipal firm client, Rubidoux Community Services District (Rubidoux).
The case, filed by the City of Riverside, California (“the City”), sought tens of millions of dollars from Rubidoux under a breach of contract theory. Under the contract, Rubidoux is required to pay a share of capital costs for a regional wastewater treatment plant provided that those costs are necessary to make the plant compliant with environmental laws that are in effect. The City, however, decided to engage in a $250 million upgrade, in part to anticipate future environmental regulations.
After the planning was complete and construction began, the City demanded that Rubidoux pay what the City unilaterally determined to be Rubidoux’s “fair share” of the quarter-billion dollar project. When Rubidoux refused because the costs for the upgrade and expansion project were beyond the scope of the parties’ contract, Riverside sued.
Following a six-week bench trial, the Court found in favor of the City and awarded it $26 million, including damages and costs.
On November 30, 2023, the Court of Appeal for the Fourth District, Division 3, unanimously reversed the trial court’s judgment, finding that the plain words of the contract did not support the trial court’s judgment in favor of the City.. The Court of Appeal then remanded the case for further proceedings with guidelines consistent with the contract terms between Rubidoux and Riverside.
For further information on this case, contract disputes, public agencies, or if you have questions about trials, please contact Norm Dupont (NDupont@RingBenderLaw.com), Jay Tufano (JTufano@RingBenderLaw.com), or Kit Bobko (PBobko@RingBenderLaw.com ).