The Daily Business News website recently reported on the arbitration of a breach of contract case involving the City of Hallandale Beach and Reuter Recycling of Florida, Inc. The action was filed in 2003 and initially involved three other cities alongside Hallandale Beach. Those cities settled out of the case, which was tried in the arbitration proceedings with the two remaining parties.
Hallandale Beach claimed that Reuter Recycling had breached a Solid Waste Disposal Agreement in four ways: by failing to compost; by failing to pay a yearly gate charge; by overcharging the fee for each ton of garbage delivered to it and by allowing the other three Florida cities involved in the contract to exit early.
Reuter countersued Hallandale Beach, claiming that the city was in breach of contract for diverting some of its waste to other companies, a claim that Reuter said resulted in damages to their company in the amount of $2 million. Additionally, prior to arbitration, the Defendant had filed a motion for summary judgment asking that the city’s entire case be dismissed.
Florida courts denied the bulk of the relief Reuters asked for in the motion for summary judgment, though one of the Hallandale’s claims concerning reimbursement for tipping fee charges was dismissed. From this state, the breach of contract lawsuit proceeded to arbitration regarding the four remaining claims.
The American Arbitration Association panel was presided by Lawrence Kellogg, Esq. The panel found that Reuter Recycling had indeed breached the contract on all counts. After dismissing the Defendant’s counterclaim in its entirety, the panel awarded the city of Hallandale the two types of relief that it has sought – damages in the amount of $525,000 as well as a portion of its litigation expenses and a ruling that the contract was terminated, due to Reuter’s acts and omissions.
Florida business owners can suffer devastating economic and professional damages when a contract is breached. Our firm is highly skilled in handling breach of contract cases for businesses of all sizes. If your company is struggling with such an issue, contact us. You can use this form to email or call us at (954) 779-7009.
