Riess LeMieux Delivers Major Win in Multi-Million Dollar Class Action
Riess LeMieux has secured a decisive victory for a general contractor client in a high-stakes class action involving over 500 properties and millions of dollars in potential exposure that could have opened the door for near limitless liability for general contractors on projects they completed more than five years ago. The firm represented the general contractor on a pump station project.
Homeowners alleged that property damage sustained during Hurricane Francine in 2024 resulted from defects in a stormwater drainage pump constructed in 2017. On behalf of the client, Riess LeMieux filed a Peremptory Exception of No Cause of Action under La. R.S. 9:2772, asserting that the claims were barred by the statute’s five-year peremption period.
At the hearing, Plaintiffs leaned on the Louisiana Supreme Court’s Rando v. Anco Industries, asserting that the firm’s client, a general contractor, retained “custody or control” of the project (and therefore remained liable) for work it completed seven years ago. Riess LeMieux Partner, Jonathan S. Forester, successfully distinguished the facts from Rando, arguing that the general contractor’s role as contractor-employer-designer in that case was fundamentally different from a traditional general contractor’s role; and that the firm’s client contractor had effectively relinquished all control at the time of the alleged causation, having left the project seven years before Hurricane Francine made landfall.
On rebuttal, Mr. Forester clarified that the peremptive period began upon Notice of Substantial Completion, not upon discovery of alleged defects – – a critical distinction that proved decisive. The trial court agreed and dismissed all claims with prejudice before discovery even commenced, sparing the client significant defense costs on some 500+ properties and preserving important peremptive protections for general contractors statewide.
The case was led by Partner, Jonathan S. Forester, and Associate, Olivia D. Maynard.
