Leazenby Construction, Inc. v. City of Council Bluffs

Case Summary: 10-cv-0028

This is a contract performance and interpretation dispute case. On September 20, 2010, Plaintiff Leazenby Construction Company (Leazenby) filed a complaint against the City of Council Bluffs (CCB) alleging that it had a contract with CCB to construct a public improvement project for the City, that circumstances outside of Leazenby’s control (the subsurface conditions of the area) made it impossible to perform the contract, that CCB wrongfully terminated the contract, that it arbitrarily and capriciously determined that Leazenby was not a “responsible bidder,” that it has barred Leazenby from performing public improvement projects for the City, and that such determinations have caused other entities to consider Leazenby not to be a “responsible bidder,” all in violation of Leazenby’s civil rights and without due process. CCB answered on November 26, 2010 maintaining that Leazenby breached the contract by not performing timely and adequately, that it has in fact subsequently hired Leazenby for another job, and that numerous meetings and hearings were held on Leazenby’s performance so that it was provided due process. CCB counterclaimed for damages against Leazenby due to the project not being timely completed and for damages related to the fact that Leazenby left the project area in an unsafe manner. It also added Leazenby’s bonding company, Merchants, as a third party.

The bench trial (tried to the judge) in this matter began on June 18 and continued through June 27th at which point the court recessed the proceedings. Videos of these trial proceedings are posted. Trial continued on November 26 and continued through November 30. The parties did not consent to videotaping of these proceedings. The case is awaiting a decision by the judge.

Case Highlights

• Complaint filed 9/20/2010 [Doc #1]
• Amended Answer and Counterclaim filed 5/10/2011 [Doc #26]
• Third Party Complaint filed 5/10/2011 [Doc #27]
• Trial Briefs filed 6/11/2012 [Doc ##123-124]
• Bench Trial 6/18/2012

Case-related documents, including those referenced above, are available via the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) service. For more information, visit Pacer.gov.