I am writing on behalf of Skanska USA Building Inc. to express our disappointment in your recent article "Modular Hospital 'Triumph' Generates Potentially Costly Trouble" (ENR.com 3/5), which we believe is misleading in its presentation of recent developments in a lawsuit concerning NBBJ and a prior (now dismissed) lawsuit involving owner Premier Health Partner, NBBJ, Skanska Shook and other parties involved in the Miami Valley Hospital project in 2011.
First, it is important to note that there is no lawsuit pending against Skanska Shook or any of its subcontractors related to the project or to the hospital patients who were allegedly exposed to legionella after the completion of the project. The lawsuit that prompted the ENR article is solely a dispute between the owner and NBBJ, the project's architect of record. In that lawsuit, the court decided that NBBJ had failed to fulfill its contractual obligation to obtain insurance that would have protected the owner against legionella-related claims arising from NBBJ's work on the project.