Unfinished Work, Delays Cited in Orleans Parish Jail Suit

NEW ORLEANS — Citing unfinished work, missed deadlines and failure to provide reimbursements for construction on the city’s new approximately $150 million Orleans Justice Center complex, Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman is now suing two construction firms for breach of contract. The jail has now been open more than a year; however, Gusman’s suit — filed in Orleans Parish Civil District Court — claims approximately 200 punch list items have yet to be addressed.

In the suit, Gusman contests that workers employed by The McDonnel Group of Metairie, La., and Archer Western Contractors of Atlanta walked off the job site, leaving approximately $2.5 million in work unfinished. Gusman’s office is also requesting $2.8 million in damages in response to missed construction deadlines that resulted in the new Orleans Justice Center opening nine months later than anticipated in September 2015. Citing failure to provide reimbursements for water used during construction, the sheriff is also seeking an additional $7 million from the two firms.

“The contractor has left the job site and refused to complete the remaining items other than to refer the issues to its subcontractors,” the lawsuit claims, as reported by The New Orleans Advocate.

In a statement also reported by The New Orleans Advocate, President of The McDonnel Group Allan McDonnel said that the suit is a “result of comprehensive settlement negotiations to allow the (Sheriff’s Office) to reserve a position.”

“It was knowingly done and not considered adversarial,” McDonnel added in a statement.

Gusman further seeks to hold the two firms accountable for legal fees related to a series of lawsuits filed by several subcontractors and sub-subcontractors, according to the New Orleans Advocate.

The Orleans Justice Center complex was intended to house inmates that had been held in makeshift and/or temporary facilities following Hurricane Katrina as well as consolidate and centralize administrative and sheriff’s facilities spread throughout the parish. Housing components include a four-story, concrete-framed building with intermediate mezzanines that houses roughly 1,400 inmates. The building accommodates a variety of custody levels and includes some open dorms.

An intake processing center was also designed to replace a temporary facility, containing processing, booking, secure holding, medical screening, inmate release, property rooms and two courtrooms. The building also features a secure and enclosed vehicle sally port on the first floor to allow for safer transfers of arrested individuals arriving for processing.