Kane Co. settles roof suit for $1.5 million

A judge has signed off on a settlement between Kane County and four of the companies involved with installing the Judicial Center's faulty roof.

The four companies have agreed to pay the county $1.5 million, about 30 percent of what it cost the county to repair contamination caused by the lead-based roof.

The companies are: Architects Wight & Co. and Serena Sturm Architects Ltd., general contractor The Frederick Quinn Corp., and installer Specialty Associates Inc. A fifth defendant, wholesaler Cambridge Lee, was dismissed from the suit several years ago.

The settlement ends just part of a long battle between the county and the companies because the remaining defendant in the four-year-old case, Leetsdale, Penn.-based roof manufacturer Hussey Copper Ltd., was not party to the settlement. Unless a separate settlement can be reached, the county's lawsuit against Hussey will go to trial in May.

In a legal filing asking the court to approve the settlement, Kane County State's Attorney John Barsanti states that "the sole cause of the roof failure at the Kane County Judicial Center was the defective roof materials produced by Hussey."

He goes on to state that "the likelihood of collecting a large judgment from any of these (four) defendants is virtually nonexistent" in part because one of the companies, Specialty Associates Inc., is bankrupt.

The county sued the companies for breach of warranty, trespass and nuisance.

Seventeenth Judicial Circuit Judge J. Todd Kennedy approved the settlement two weeks ago. The case was heard outside of Kane County to avoid a conflict of interest.

The county has since replaced the St. Charles Township building's roof with a one made of galvanized steel.