| Hawkins Construction Company, Inc., Issue No. 3 |
September
2001
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The Contractors Critic
HAWKINS CONSTRUCTION COMPANY, Inc. Reporting on Safety, Productivity, and Honesty in the Construction Industry.
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Hawkins sued Time & Time again
| Hawkins Construction
Company, Inc. is no stranger to the courtroom. Since the company’s start in
1960, Hawkins Construction has been constantly involved in court battles where
they are the defendants. Many of these lawsuits involve injured workers not only
current and former employees of Hawkins Construction, but also employees of
companies that subcontract for Hawkins. When a company hires Hawkins for a job,
that company then accepts the workers that Hawkins employs for the given job.
When a Hawkins worker is injured on the job, not only can the injured worker go
after Hawkins, the worker can also go after the company that hired Hawkins in
the first place. A city and the surrounding communities also take
responsibility when Hawkins employees are working on a construction project.
When an innocent person is injured due to the negligence of Hawkins Construction
Company, Inc., that innocent person is not only a victim, they are also angry
with the city for hiring a negligent company like Hawkins Construction. In turn,
the innocent citizen can sue the city, which hired Hawkins.
In the end, all of these messy lawsuits involve a lot of money and time to
iron out. You, as a construction customer, have the right to know about the
messy litigation past of a construction company, like Hawkins Construction, that
you might hire. The following litigation reveals the numerous lawsuits against
Hawkins Construction Company, Inc., as well as some lawsuits filed by Hawkins.
 Melvin and Linda Cerny &
Geotechnical Services V Hawkins Construction Company, Inc. & State of Nebraska
According to this 2000 court suit, Melvin Cerny worked for Geotechnical
Services at a time when Hawkins Construction was performing work on the
southbound ramp on Interstate 690 near Pacific Street in Omaha, Nebraska. While
using a temporary freeway ramp near the Hawkins job site, Cerny was injured in a
traffic accident. He was paralyzed and bound to a wheelchair for life.
His court complaint charged that Hawkins failed to use reasonable and
ordinary care in their construction and repair of the freeway ramp. Importantly,
not only was Hawkins sued, Cerny also sued Hawkins’ client the State of
Nebraska. This case illustrates a critical point. If the construction customer
hires an unsafe contractor, the customer itself is liable for damages in any
resulting civil suit. Cerny’s suit, for instance, asks for damages in excess of
$525,000. (Case #992-188)
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