Queenan and Hahn Obtain Summary Judgment Dismissal

John F. Queenan and Penny Hahn obtained a summary judgment dismissal in a commercial litigation matter. The case was commenced by a contractor whose multimillion-dollar bid for construction and replacement of a village wastewater/sewage system was denied after our client, a national engineering firm, found that the contractor was not a “responsible bidder” under the public-bidding law.

The client was retained by a local village for all aspects of project engineering management, including reviewing the bids and bidders under public bidding laws. The client submitted a report to the village, finding that the lowest bidder was not the lowest responsible bidder. The contractor was not awarded the bid and sued the client for defamation, interference with contract and prospective contractual relations.

Through a series of affidavits obtained from witnesses, multiple party and non-party depositions of key witnesses, John and Penny were able to establish the truth of the statements, the mootness of the claim due to subsequent withdrawal of the bid by the contractor and that the report and the duty of the client to report to the village its findings cloaked the communications with the common interest privilege.