In Inside Courts, retired judge Tom Hodson explains the complexities of the law and legal cases, helping you understand what’s at stake — and how it affects you.
To date, no one has taken legal responsibility for over $700,000 worth of damage to the building occupied by QuidelOrtho — one of Athens’ largest employers — during a fire training exercise in September 2023.
Currently, insurance companies representing various defendants keep pointing their fault fingers at each other and no one is taking responsibility for the damage. As a result, a lawsuit has been filed in the Athens County Common Pleas Court involving the owner of the building East State Street Development Co., LLC and five local fire departments.
Currently, there is one lawsuit filed by the building’s owner and two crossclaims between defendants fighting over who should pay for any damages. That means there are really three lawsuits in one.
I will explain some of the pre-litigation maneuvering, the status of the lawsuit and delve into the various pleadings (court documents) that have currently been filed in the case.
Background
On September 30, 2023, during a fire training exercise, the building at 2005 E. State Street was flooded. The City of Athens Fire Department along with the Richland Avenue Fire Department, the Chauncey Volunteer Fire Department, the Waterloo Township Fire Department, and The Plains Volunteer Fire Department were involved.
The firefighters hooked up to the private water system of the East State St. company. During the exercise, a “water hammer event” took place, water backed up and caused internal pipes to burst. The property occupied by QuidelOrtho was flooded.
It has been reported that East State Street Development Co., LLC has asked the various fire departments to pay for the damage, but each has refused.
On February 19, 2024, several people involved with the property spoke to Athens City Council, requesting payment for the damages.
Brent Hayes, one of the building’s owners, said that a complaint was filed with the City of Athens insurance carrier on October 3, 2023. He claimed that damages are likely more than $1 million.
Hayes also claimed that the property owners had a $500,000 bill to SERVPRO Restoration Services.
He reported that nothing had been paid by the City’s insurer.
He also noted that QuidelOrtho has about 12 to 18 months on its lease and given this incident, there is no guarantee that they will re-rent or stay in Athens.
State Representative Jay Edwards (R-94th District) also appeared on behalf of the property owners. He cited that QuidelOrth has about 150 employees and a payroll of about $14 million per year.
He warned the City Administration and Council that they should be more involved in the resolution of this matter.
Distinguished Professor Emeritus Dr. Richard Vedder also nudged the City to resolve this issue for the economic well-being of both the City and QuidelOrtho.
Athens City Service Safety Director Andy Stone acknowledged at that Council meeting that the Fire Department training exercise caused the flooding of QuidelOrtho.
Between that meeting in February 2024 and September 2024, there was no resolution of the matter.
The plaintiffs’ complaint
On Sept. 20, 2024, East State Street Development Co. filed a lawsuit in Athens County Common Pleas court against the City of Athens Fire Department, the Richland Avenue Fire Department, the Chauncey Volunteer Fire Department, the Waterloo Fire Department and The Plains Volunteer Fire Department. The lawsuit also involved 25 John Does — unknown individuals who created the situation causing damage.
The lawsuit claims that the defendants conducted this fire training on plaintiff’s property without the permission of the Plaintiff.
The lawsuit states: “Defendants connected to East State’s private water system to pull water for the exercise. During the exercise, Defendants’ reckless actions and inaction led to a ‘water hammer event’ where pressurized water was forced back into East State’s building causing the internal water lines to burst and flood the Property. The flooding and related cleanup has cost East State Street hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
The complaint also cites Service Safety Director Stone’s admission of responsibility that he gave to Athens City Council on Feb. 19.
The lawsuit also claims that defendants trespassed on plaintiff’s property without the permission of the owner of the property.
The complaint includes a claim of negligence against the defendants claiming that the acts of the defendants were “negligent, grossly negligent and/or reckless.”
The complaint asks for damages, punitive damages (damages as a punishment against a defendant), and attorney fees.
The plaintiff also requested that the case be resolved by a jury. Jury trials are not automatic in civil cases and if a party wants a jury, then a special request must be made.
The defendants’ response
Chauncey-Dover, Waterloo and The Plains
On October 17, Assistant Athens County Prosecutor Timothy L. Warren filed an Answer and Crossclaim on behalf of the Chauncey-Dover, Waterloo Township, and The Plains Volunteer Fire Departments. This answer essentially denies each of the plaintiff’s claims and puts them all at issue for a future trial.
Additionally, these defendants filed a cross claim against the City of Athens Fire Department. A cross claim essentially says that if there is any fault on the part of the defendants, then it should be assessed against another defendant and not the parties filing the crossclaim. It is a lawsuit within a lawsuit. In this case, the defendants claim that if there was any fault it belongs to the City of Athens because they oversaw all the aspects of the training.
On Oct. 23, 2024, the City of Athens filed an answer denying the crossclaim of the other fire departments.
Waterloo Township Fire Department
One day later, on Oct. 18, a Columbus law firm filed another answer on behalf of the Waterloo Fire Department in addition to the one filed the day before by the Athens County Prosecutor’s Office. In essence, it denied the allegations made in plaintiff’s complaint but did not include a crossclaim.
The answer also included affirmative defenses of immunity (claiming the defendants cannot be sued or held responsible).
Judge George McCarthy, the judge assigned to this case, will need to determine who actually is representing Waterloo and the status of Waterloo’s initial crossclaim.
The City of Athens Fire Department
On Oct. 21, the City of Athens filed its answer and a crossclaim. The city basically denies all allegations made by the plaintiff.
The city puts forth affirmative defenses saying that the plaintiff was responsible for its damages due to its own negligence. It also claims that the plaintiffs filed the lawsuit against the wrong party and that the Athens City Fire Department is not an entity capable of being sued.
The City also claims that it is immune from the claims based upon sovereign immunity under Ohio Revised Code Sec. 2744. This means that the city is claiming that it cannot be sued for negligence under this section of Ohio law for actions that caused the flooding.
A cross claim was also filed by the city claiming that, if it is liable, it is the responsibility of the other Fire Departments who participated in the training and not Athens.
Richland Avenue Fire Brigade
Finally, on Oct. 31, a Cincinnati attorney filed two documents: an Answer to the Complaint and an Answer to Athens’ Cross Claim.
The attorney noted that the use of “Richland Avenue Fire Department” by the plaintiff was inaccurate and the real entity is the Richland Avenue Fire Brigade, Inc. In addition, the answer noted that the Richland Avenue Fire Brigade is immune from any lawsuit and that the plaintiff’s claims against them are frivolous.
What’s next
Judge McCarthy has scheduled a telephonic status conference for Dec. 19 at 3:30 p.m. All the attorneys will participate via phone. The purpose of this conference is to chart out time frames for the next expected developments in the case.
The judge will probably set deadlines for all parties to complete their discovery processes (obtaining information under oath from opposing parties). Discovery usually entails requests for documents, written questions (interrogatories) and actual testimony in front of a court reporter (deposition). Discovery in a case such as this may take several months.
Then the judge may schedule deadlines for each party to file motions in the case to either limit the scope of the case or to file determinative motions (such as motions for summary judgment).
We will discuss these stages in much more detail as we approach those periods of the case.
At the telephonic status conference, the judge may also see if the parties are amenable to mediation to try to resolve the case without the necessity of long and protracted litigation.
After the Status Conference, the judge will note what was resolved in a written order that will be part of the case file.
