Large Monetary Settlement Obtained For Manufacturer of Escalators and Elevators
The firm represents KONE Inc., an international manufacturer of escalators and elevators, in its personal injury and commercial cases throughout Northern California. This case involved the breach of KONE’s maintenance contract by Kaiser Permanente. The contract called for KONE to provide maintenance and repair services to 24 elevators and escalators located at Kaiser’s Oakland-based hospital. The contract was entered into in 1989 and contained an Evergreen Clause, which renewed the contract for a five-year term unless one of the parties gave notice to terminate it.
Kaiser renewed the contract without comment in 2004, but three months later Kaiser unilaterally breached the contract and terminated it, claiming that KONE was not adequately providing services as called for under the contract. KONE initiated arbitration pursuant to the contract. Prior to binding arbitration, the parties entered into an early mediation and KONE obtained a mid six-figure settlement from Kaiser.