Judge won't expand June ruling in KFC Yum! Center lawsuit - WDRB 41 Louisville News

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WDRB) – A judge has denied a Louisville company’s request to broaden a court order and find that the Louisville Arena Authority violated state law in hiring a Minnesota firm to build the KFC Yum! Center.

Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip J. Shepherd ruled in June that Minneapolis-based M.A. Mortenson Co. did not follow “good faith” and other parts of Kentucky’s procurement code when it chose a subcontractor for the project nearly a decade ago.

The ruling was a win for RAM Engineering & Construction, which claimed it was treated unfairly after losing out on the subcontract for earthwork and other pre-construction work. RAM filed the civil lawsuit against Mortenson, arena and state officials in 2008.

Among the judge’s conclusions, he found that Mortenson kept from the arena authority the details of its negotiations with RAM and a competitor – Veit, also a Minnesota firm. Veit ultimately landed the subcontract with a slightly lower bid after Mortenson let it submit a discount that wasn’t offered to RAM, he ruled.

But shortly after Shepherd’s ruling, RAM asked the judge to amend his findings and rule that the arena authority also violated Kentucky procurement law and that the Mortenson contract also ran afoul of the law.

Shepherd denied that request July 28, saying in his order that the issues “raise nothing new for the Court to review, and that these issues have already been considered.”

Mortenson and the Kentucky Finance and Administration Cabinet opposed RAM’s request, according to court documents.

Shepherd has ordered the sides to try and settle their differences in mediation.

Reach reporter Marcus Green at 502-585-0825, mgreen@wdrb.com, on Twitter or on Facebook. Copyright 2017 WDRB News. All rights reserved.