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Christian
Brothers chases bigger bucks in L.A. lawsuit
Christian Brothers H & AC, Inc. V Wicks Construction, Inc. and Metro Border,
LLC. |
| The quick-to-court company went after bigger
bucks from Wicks Construction in a 2001 lawsuit. On Nov. 2, 2001 Christian
filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court against Wicks and a Rancho Santa
Margarita, Calif. restaurant firm called Metro Border, L.L.C. alleging
breach of contract. The suit claimed that Wicks had
entered into a contract calling for payments of about $85,400 for work on
the On the Border Mexican Grill restaurant located at 6081 Center Drive
West, Suite #102, Los Angeles, Calif., but failed to pay some $18,200 of
that amount. Christian Brothers also filed a mechanic’s claim of lien in
that case.
The story told by Christian Brother in its preliminary
allegations is relatively simple. On or about Feb 19, 2001, Christian
Brothers claims, it entered into a written subcontract agreement with Wicks
"to furnish labor, services, equipment and/or materials relating to heating,
ventilation and/or air-conditioning for a work of improvement on The Subject
Property."
The $85,400 worth of work the subcontract first called for
was increased through agreed upon change orders totaling $7,435 was
ultimately raised to a total contract amount of $92,835, according to public
documents obtained from the court.
If the boilerplate sounds familiar, it may be because
Christian Brothers was represented in both cases, Roen and Wicks, by the
same lawyer, Edward A. Fernandez of the Riverside, Calif. law firm of Donner
Fernandez & Lauby.
The California State Bar of California reports Fernandez
to be an active attorney in good standing with no record of disciplinary
action.
According to the latest available court documents, on
March 25, 2002, that case was dismissed without prejudice at the request of
CB and transferred to Culver City Courthouse where it appears to remain
pending. (Case #01T04147) |
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Taking on the
Sturgeon General: Humorous defendant with felicitous name
Christian Brothers H & AC, Inc. V Michael Sturgeon (a.k.a. Sturgeon
General), Air Management Industries, Inc., et al. |
| Christian Brothers also went after the
Sturgeon General. No, not C.W. Koop, rather it was a Southern California
firm whose owner was apparently blessed with a pixie-ish sense of humor.
On May 5, 2000, Christian Brothers filed a breach of contract
suit in Los Angeles Superior Court against Michael Sturgeon .
In the complaint, Christian Brothers alleged that on or
about Aug. 2, 1999 it and Air Management entered into a written agreement
that called for Christian Brothers "to furnish labor, services, equipment
and/or materials relating to heating, ventilation and/or air conditioning
for a work of improvement" on a project explained in detail on the
agreement.
In the contract Christian Brothers claimed that Air
Management agreed to pay the sum of $75,800 for its work, according to
documents obtained from the court.
Between Aug. 2 and Sept. 30, 1999, Christian Brothers
performed the work as contracted, but $7,580 of the bill was allegedly not
paid. Christian Brothers asked the court for that amount, plus costs. The
case was subsequently dismissed with prejudice at Christian Brothers’
request on June 19, 2000. (Case #00C00483)
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| New charges
against Christian Brothers over employee surveillance
On Feb. 18, 2003 Luther Medina, a union organizer with
Sheet Metal Workers Local 105, filed with the National Labor Relations Board
(NLRB) in Mira Loma a complaint that Christian Brothers management had
wrongfully restrained and spied on employees in general and threatened to
fire Mark Quinonez in particular for his union activities.
They also took punitive actions against Quinonez,
including taking away his company cell phone, telling him he was being
watched and threatening to fire him and forced other employees to watch
anti-union videos in the workplace the complaint said. (Case #21-CA-35595)
NLRB officials indicated these were new charges not
related to previous charges filed in a separate case. (Case #21-CA-35198). |
   
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