San Benito schools’
mold lawsuit settled
By Pallavi Agarwal, The Valley Morning
Star (September 2, 2004).
SAN BENITO, Texas — Three
years after two San Benito campuses were rid of mold, the company that
installed the school district’s heating and cooling systems has agreed to
pay the school district $15 million.
Honeywell International Inc.’s $15 million settlement falls short of the
$180 million in damages and attorney fees that the school district was
seeking in a lawsuit that was headed to trial this week.
But School Board President Oscar De La Fuente, Jr., said that the settlement
would cover a $7 million loan to pay for the mold remediation and save the
district legal fees from a prolonged lawsuit.
The money will also cover
$729,000 the district has paid in interest on the two-year-old loan, and
attorney fees whose percentage is still being worked out, schools interim
superintendent Antonio Limon said.
"We will break even with this settlement," he said.
First National Bank of Edinburg had given the loan, which had to be renewed
every year and did not allow for payment on the principal, Limon added.
The school district alleged in its 2002 lawsuit that Honeywell installed and
mismanaged faulty heating and cooling systems at SBCISD from 1994 to 2001.
A November arbitration in Minnesota was going to decide the outcome of the
litigation involving mold cases at Bertha Cabaza Middle and Dr. Raul Garza
Elementary schools, where most of the mold was found and cleaned up.
Limon said that the mold consultant had given all 13 campuses a "clean bill
of health" and that he did not anticipate any future substantial cost in
mold clean up.
A statement issued by the company stated that there was no basis to the
school district’s allegations of fraud and that "we believe that we would
have prevailed at trial."
The statement added that no mold was found in any of these schools and that
the school board has not done any mold remediation over the last 2 years
since moisture concerns were raised.
"Honeywell had a successful working relationship with the San Benito schools
for more than eight years," the statement adds. "All along this case was
shaped by the district’s mold consultant, Assured Indoor Air Quality."
The statement said that the mold consultant gained millions of dollars to
assess the cause of moisture in the schools and resolve the problem. |