Custom Workstation Installation, LLC v. Working Spaces, Inc.

CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Georgia
DecidedMarch 8, 2023
Docket1:21-cv-03975
StatusUnknown

This text of Custom Workstation Installation, LLC v. Working Spaces, Inc. (Custom Workstation Installation, LLC v. Working Spaces, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Custom Workstation Installation, LLC v. Working Spaces, Inc., (N.D. Ga. 2023).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA ATLANTA DIVISION

Custom Workstation Installation, LLC,

Plaintiff, Case No. 1:21-cv-3975-MLB v.

Working Spaces, Inc.,

Defendant.

________________________________/

OPINION & ORDER Defendant Working Spaces, Inc. hired Plaintiff Custom Workstation Installation, LLC as subcontractor on a building project but failed to pay for the work performed. Plaintiff claims Defendant provided terrible working conditions; Defendant says Plaintiff botched the job. Plaintiff sued Defendant, and Defendant filed counterclaims. Plaintiff moves for summary judgment on those counterclaims. (Dkt. 30.) The Court grants Plaintiff’s motion in part and denies it in part. I. Background Plaintiff provides custom workstation installation services to its

clients. (Dkt. 37 ¶ 1.) Defendant hired Plaintiff as a subcontractor to help build a new building. (Dkt. 37 ¶ 2.) Among other things, Plaintiff agreed to install a glass partition system called Maars “Lalinea,” which

includes double-glazed glass. (Dkt. 37 ¶ 24.) The parties describe the Lalinea product as a “stick-built” system (which means someone has to

build and seal the glass partitions on site) rather than a “unitized” system (which means someone merely installs a prefabricated system). (Dkt. 37 ¶ 26.) A stick-built system is tricky. (Dkt. 37 ¶ 31.) As part of

this, Plaintiff says the installer must have a clean and dust-free work site (presumably so the installer can assemble and seal the double glazed glass without getting dust between the panes). (Dkt. 37 ¶ 27.)

A. The Contract and Its Uncertain Terms The parties agree they entered into a contract based on a quote Plaintiff provided Defendant in January 15, 2019. (Dkt. 37 ¶¶ 7, 11.)

They disagree as to the terms of the contract and whether each other violated those terms.1 Plaintiff, for example, claims the contract required Defendant to provide Plaintiff a clean worksite before Plaintiff was

required to begin installation. (Dkt. 37 ¶ 12.) Defendant agrees they “initially discussed” this requirement. (Dkt. 37 ¶ 12.) But Defendant says it later told Plaintiff the worksite would not be clean, and Plaintiff

agreed to install the glass partitions anyway in exchange for more money. (Dkt. 37 ¶ 12.) The parties agree Defendant said it would provide

Plaintiff technical training about installing Maars glass. (Dkt. 37 ¶ 17.) Defendant denies this was a material term of the agreement and insists Plaintiff said it was already capable of installing the glass system. (Dkt.

37 ¶ 17.) The parties agree the contract gave Plaintiff nine weeks to complete installation (or three weeks per floor). (Dkt. 37 ¶¶ 15-16.) Plaintiff says Defendant gave it only one week per floor. (Dkt. 37 ¶¶ 15-

16.) Defendant insists it gave Plaintiff the required time. (Dkt. 37 ¶ 16.) The parties agree Defendant told Plaintiff that, after installation was completed, it would provide Plaintiff a “punch list” of items that needed

1 They also disagree on the date of the contract, Defendant saying they entered into a contract on February 21, 2019 and Plaintiff saying they “entered into a parol agreement” in early May. (Dkt. 37 ¶¶ 7, 11.) The date of the contract is immaterial to the issues presently before the Court. to be fixed and an opportunity to make the repairs. (Dkt. 37 ¶¶ 12-14.) The parties disagree as to whether Defendant did this. (Dkt. 37 ¶¶ 83,

84.) B. Installation Problems There were a lot of problems with the installation. The workspace

Defendant provided Plaintiff was—by Defendant’s own admission—not “clean.” There was ongoing construction, including wood that was being

sanded (and presumably producing a lot of dust) near the installation site. (Dkt. 37 ¶ 52.) No one had painted the walls or installed flooring, base tiles, or ceiling tiles. (Dkt. 37 ¶¶ 52-53.) Ms. Flacke (one of

Defendant’s former employees who supervised Plaintiff) admitted the work site was “not ready” for Plaintiff. (Dkt. 37 ¶ 53.) Defendant does not dispute this allegation but—as explained—says Plaintiff knew of the

problem and agreed to commence work anyway. (Dkt. 37 ¶ 54.) Defendant arranged for a Maars product representative to provide Plaintiff training on the Lalinea system. (Dkt. 37 ¶35.) Plaintiff

contends the representative was incompetent, which Defendant disputes. (Dkt. 37 ¶ 34.) Maars sent a replacement trainer, but he did not arrive until after Plaintiff had begun installation. (Dkt. 37 ¶ 35.) When he finally got there, he determined Plaintiff had to remove all the glass it had previously installed pursuant to the initial trainer’s instructions.

(Dkt. 37 ¶ 36.) Maars delivered a lot of the glass without labels to provide Plaintiff dimensions or to identify where Plaintiff was supposed to install each

piece. Plaintiff thus had to measure every piece of glass before installing it. (Dkt. 37 ¶ 59.) Maars shipped one load of glass in an open container,

causing much of it to break. Plaintiff had to sift through all the glass to find damaged pieces, report them to Maars, and order replacement parts. (Dkt. 37 ¶ 60.) This hurt Plaintiff’s ability complete installation on time.

(Dkt. 37 ¶ 63.) Some of the glass was damaged by other contractors at the worksite, causing further delays as Plaintiff ordered replacement parts. (Dkt. 37 ¶ 68.)2 Maars also delivered so-called “wrong-handed

doors.” (Dkt. 37 ¶ 66.) Plaintiff says this prevented it from fully installing the doors on time. (Dkt. 37 ¶ 66.) Defendant admits many of

2 Defendant disputes this statement as not supported by the cited evidence. But the cited evidence supports the statement adopted by the Court. (Dkt. 35-5 at 73:1-74:8.) It does not support the second half of Plaintiff’s statement, i.e., that the glass had to be inspected before being delivered back to the site. Id. these difficulties but denies they caused much of a problem. (Dkt. 37 ¶¶ 64, 66.)

Plaintiff says Defendant’s other contractors did not build the openings into which Plaintiff was supposed to install the glass according to the right dimensions. (Dkt. 37 ¶ 69.) As a result, Plaintiff had to find

“workarounds” (like recutting wood panels and adding or removing drywall and wall tack) to make the glass fit properly. (Dkt. 37 ¶¶ 71-72.)

Plaintiff says most of these workarounds were not “standard” or part of its contractual agreement. (Dkt. 37 ¶ 73.) Defendant disagrees, saying Maars provided Plaintiff solutions to these problems and “contractors

and subcontractors typically need to come up with workarounds, both standard and non-standard, during the completion of a project.” (Dkt. 37 ¶ 71.)

C. The Aftermath In February 2020, the general contractor sent Defendant a Change Order for costs of repairing damage Plaintiff’s employees allegedly

caused at the worksite.3 (Dkt. 40-1 ¶¶ 6, 7.) This included the

3 Plaintiff objects to all of these statement on hearsay grounds. The Court addresses this later. replacement of a rubber base throughout the entire building, the installation of new flooring in one room, and the replacement of several

light fixtures. (Dkt. 40-1 ¶ 7.) Defendant also claims a large piece of glass installed by Plaintiff fell out of a wall and smashed on a railing. (Dkt. 40-1 ¶ 8.) Defendant became worried that other pieces (some

weighing hundreds of pounds) might also fall due to Plaintiff’s faulty installation. (Dkt. 40-1 ¶¶ 9, 10.) Defendant paid another sub-contractor

more than $109,000 to complete Plaintiff’s work.4 (Dkts. 37 ¶ 78, 40-1 ¶¶ 11-12.) Plaintiff alleges Defendant gave it a “punch list” of things to fix but then prevented Plaintiff from making the repairs. (Dkt. 37 ¶¶ 82-

84.) Apparently, Defendant never paid Plaintiff.

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