Construction Law

RAVES FOR IDAHO CONTRACTOR FIGHTING BACK ON ALLEGED DEFECTIVE CONSTRUCTION CLAIM

By John Ahlers

According to a lawsuit filed in Blaine County, Idaho, Tom Hanks ("Hanks") (the actor) and his wife Rita Wilson ("Wilson") hired Storey Construction, Inc. in 2001 to build a luxury home in Sun Valley, Idaho. The home was completed in 2002, and the movie star couple moved in. The contractor was not paid for the work it performed and filed a lien on the home, which culminated in an arbitration in 2003.

Hanks and Wilson filed a counterclaim in the amount of $800,000 asserting that the work was shoddy. At the arbitration Rita Wilson, Tom Hanks' wife is said to have "leaped from the witness stand" . . . "and started screaming hysterically" she then stormed out of the room. The arbitrators ruled in favor of the contractor, awarding the contractor almost 100% of its damages. The contractor was paid and had no further contact with Hanks or Wilson until November 2006, when Hanks and Wilson filed a second arbitration against the contractor asserting this time $2.5 million in damages for "construction defects."

The contractor brought this case in court seeking to dismiss the second arbitration and countersued Hanks and Wilson for abuse of process. Asserting that the Hanks and Wilson arbitration demand is "motivated by revenge." The contractor's lawsuit requests that the judge award the contractor damages and deny the Hollywood actors' request for yet another round of arbitration.

The contractor is represented by the Seattle law firm of Stanislaw Ashbaugh (R. Miles Stanislaw). This case promises to provide some interesting insights on the way our court system views these far too prevalent and often frivolous "construction defect" claims. For a copy of the complaint filed by the contractor filed against Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, see

http://www.aolcdn.com/tmz_documents/1221_tom_rita_wm_.pdf

 

Thanks to the website TMZ.com for bringing this tidbit to our attention.

Full post as published by Construction Law Blog on January 08, 2008 (boomark / email).