Disputes over contract claims can sometimes get personal. After all, it’s individuals—real people—who interact on behalf of their respective organizations. Things get said, attitudes are conveyed. A contractor recently sued an employee of the municipal project owner, an employee of the consulting engineer and an employee of the construction manager. The allegations were interference with contract and business conspiracy.
The aggrieved contractor failed to consider the law of agency. Agents acting within the scope of their duties have an identity of interest with their principal—in this case, the municipal project owner. As a Virginia court said, “Consultants and employees advising a municipal owner act as its agents, not as third-party intermeddlers.”
The other case in this issue involved a public project owner’s attempt to void contracts based on the owner’s own irregularities during the procurement process. The effect of the voided contracts would have been to deny the contractor payment for $811,000 of completed work. The project owner did not succeed in this effort.
