The consolidated court automation programs of the Wisconsin Circuit Court System reveals that North American Mechanical has been involved in over 100 separate instances of litigation since 1988. While in many of the cases, North American Mechanical is the plaintiff; it doesn’t bode well for the company if they have to sue dozens of their own customers. In at least nine separate cases, North American Mechanical is the defendant. A partial list of court suits, in which North American Mechanical is involved, is listed later in this brochure.

Many of these cases may appear to be over trifling matters. Some observers might read this litany of court cases and feel sorry for North American Mechanical because they had to sue their deadbeat customers and suppliers.

In the Critic’s experience, on some occasions, these disputes over services rendered could indicate a hidden dispute over the quality of the construction services that were provided. The sparse court record in a particular lawsuit may not provide evidence that North American Mechanical’s services for a single client were faulty. Of course, in the Telephone and Data Systems matter, there are copious complaints that North American Mechanical’s construction services were worse than incompetent.

In any event, in the Critic’s opinion, if a construction company has to sue scores of its own clients for non-payment, it is an indication that the quality of their construction may bear investigation and further research.

North American Mechanical is a fairly large heating, venting and air conditioning contractor in the Madison, Wisconsin area, with almost 200 employees. Over the years, North American Mechanical has participated in many more court suits (over 100) and more litigation than most contractors that are far larger.

The Contractor’s Critic views court cases and liens as a plague on our construction industry. Contractors, employees, employee organizations and customers should be working together and settling their differences outside of the courthouse. However, the trend in our industry is towards more court suits— not fewer. This concerns the Critic and should concern present and potential future customers of North American Mechanical. As the Engineering News-Record of February 15, 1999, editorialized:

If your only tool is a hammer, then every problem will look like a nail. When it comes to the construction industry, the main dispute resolution tool remains a lawyer, and every disagreement still looks like a lawsuit.... Lawsuits go against the basic nature of the industry. Construction is not an individual endeavor ... but rather a business of team building.... Successful teams and projects are built on the strengths of each member, while lawsuits and unsuccessful projects are founded on the weaknesses of team members.... And a decade or more may pass before there is any resolution for a dispute by the courts, leaving no one a winner. Some industry sources claim the tide of dispute resolution may be turning back towards the courts. This may indicate that the [construction] industry has become too complacent and comfortable to combat creeping litigiousness.

The Critic could not agree more with this Engineering News-Record editorial. These are the reasons why the Critic devotes much of its resources to researching and publishing details on litigation in the construction industry. We feel that the sheer numbers and types of these lawsuits should be of grave concern to every contractor and construction customer.

North American Mechanical, for instance, has been involved in more litigation than almost any other contractor studied by the Critic, including some contractors that are far larger than North American Mechanical.

Olson Builders

SOME PARTIES THAT HAVE SUED NORTH AMERICAN MECHANICAL

American Fineline

WAGES

IS NORTH AMERICAN MECHANICAL PAYING THEIR WORKERS ENOUGH?

If a contractor is going to attract and keep high quality workers, they are going to have to pay an adequate wage. While a construction customer cannot be expected to monitor their contractor’s pay scale, there are a few clues in the public records about their contractor’s pay scale.

For instance, if a contractor has several employees who are having their wages garnished, that could indicate that their employees are not being paid enough to keep current in their own expenses.

In this vein lawsuit, at least two of North American Mechanical’s employees have had their wages garnished, according to court records. (Case #96 SC 010007A & Case #95SC5004A)

In an instance of dragging someone into court over petty amounts, North American Mechanical sued another person, for just over $1,200. North American Mechanical sued Terry Henry, presumably an employee of the company, who had borrowed money from North American. (Case #01SC001584)