Special report for es t Major suits involved in Duncan Hall project By BILL PATERSON since denied the charge and recently Clara County Superior Court charging I with negligent and careless workman- Jaspei with ailing to complete lowest bid of a sub-contractor if that con- Slate First of two parts wrote a letter to the Spartan Daily defen- subcontractors with responsibility for a ship. payments for labor and materials. tractor qualifies under slate regulations," team A number of construction companies ding the materials used. six -week delay in the project's com- Hearings have been set for Feb. 22 and According to the contract between he added. its next are suing one another following their Jasper claimed the shelves were pletion. 23. amording to jasper's attorney ES. Jasper and the California Slate Board of "In public buildings you run into these part ans work on the recently completed $8.8 overloaded. Earlier, Dr. Young said that The complaint cited the subcontractors Wilson. Trustees, jasper agreed to complete the problems more so than in private o State million phase It of the San Jose State such was not the case. with abandoning the project before its A number of the subcontractors named Duncan Hall project by lune 1. 1972. It buildings 18. Feb. University Duncan Hall Science Building. Gilbert Friel, a representative of the completion and in the case of one firm, in jasper's suit have filed cross-com- was also stated in the contract Jasper Wilson said he expected a long Slate This is in wake of an investigation OAC in Oakland. said investigation of the Pacific Plastering of Fresno, charged it plaints an the last two weeks charging would be assessed a $600 fine for each day litigation. Feb. 17. being conducted by the state's Office of accident should be completed within the it was late on the project. Yet jasper has been in litigation on re co- Architecture and Construction (OACI next two weeks. According to Jasper's complaint, his several of his projects in recent years ac- to win after a wall of shelves collapsed on Friel added he had no idea how the company laded to complete the protect cording to Santa Cruz and Santa Clara etic As- students Jan. 3 in room 450 of the new investigation was progressing. until Aug. 11, or 41 days late. County records. I coach wing. Since the incident, the Daily has inves- The complaint also stated the Board of Jasper was involved in litigation with Pamela Costa nor Daniel Gilmore were tigated the situation, with these findings: 'trustees withheld $45,000 from jasper's Santa Cruz County over the construction eak, the not seriously injured in the incident, but Attorneys for Jasper Construction final payment for the delays. of the mammoth Santa Cruz Governmen- led in a both were treated by the Student Health have filed suits against 10 Duncan Hall However, Jasper was not the first to sue tal Center completed in 1968. 'raining Center for inhaling formalin fumes. subcontractors. over Duncan Hall. Santa Cruz attorney Dennis Kehoe, who go last The incident sparked controversy when A number of these subcontractors On April 18, 1972, attorneys for Pacific represented Jasper in the case, explained s placed Dr. Joseph Young, chairman of the have filed cross suits against jasper. Plastering filed a $357,102 suit in the his client sued the county and architect Donnell Biological Sciences Department. charged Jasper Construction has been in Fresno County Superior Court against for $191,220 for non-payment of fees. ranked materials used in the Duncan Hall litigation on several of its projects in Jasper and a $107.102 suit against the The attorney said the county filed a state. shelving were substandard in a memo recent years. Board of Trustees and Aetna Insurance of cross complaint against jasper for alleged e meet. forwarded to Hobert Burns. academic vice On Jan. 23 attorneys for Duncan Hall San Francisco for non-payment of defective workmanship. third in president. on Jan. 8. general contractor Jasper Construction materials and workmanship. The county's charges were dismissed in and Jim Werner Jasper. president of Jasper Inc. of Santa Cruz filed a $545.000 suit The complaint alleged jasper "acted court and Jasper settled with the county the 136- Construction Co. Inc. of Santa Cruz, has against to of its subcontractors in Santa willfully, maliciously and with out of court for a substantial sum. Kehoe knowledge and intent that such refusal to said. 3, SJSU pay money for work completed) will Although Kehoe would not reveal that 411 Stan- substantially interfere and damage plain- amount, an official in the legal office of Oscar tiff's ability to obtain continuing finan- Santa Cruz County said the settlement s), Tim cing so that it might be enabled to finance was for $35,000. I, Pete other sub-contract obligations." A subcontractor on the Santa Cruz pro- is). and Teamster strike Since then the case has been moved to ject, George H. Wilson lone of the sub- outs for Santa Clara County Superior Court and contractors in the Duncan Hall suits) also incorporated in Jasper's major suit. filed a suit against Jasper for a breach of nd, Dan Jasper's San Francisco attorney, contract which was dismissed by a Santa placed Wilson, said the case is extremely com- Cruz Superior Court judge. placed hits local store plicated because of the number of firms At the present time Jasper is involved in yweight By the United Farm Workers Union instead involved. a cross suit with Matt Bagliere Inc. over a .a ncisco BRAD BOLLINGER Members of a local branch of the of the Teamsters Union. He added a number of the sub-con- disputed underground pipe laying project tat ional Teamsters Union picketed a San Jose "In Salinas, either you sign or you're tractors were "intimately involved with in the Los' Gatos Meadows Retirement Safeway store at First and Oak streets without a job." charged Garcia. "I know a one another" in the project. Center. ullert on Saturday to protest what they feel to be lot of people that have signed with the Yet in Wilson's complaint, he alleged Jasper has also been named a defendant edSISU unfair contracts obtained by the Union Teamsters that are dissatisfied." he representatives of University Casework in five separate actions in Santa Clara UC- with Salinas valley lettuce growers. added, "so there must be a problem with would testify that Pacific Plastering was County Superior Court in 1971. Jasper, loser to "My feeling is that the Teamsters wages and working conditions." responsible for the delay in Duncan Hall. who operates state-wide, was also named 12-12 on as well. should let the farm workers alone," said Garcia said he didn't know it the Wilson would neither confirm nor deny ass defendant in previous years Rudy Garcia, a cannery worker and this. Jasper and his attorney defended his 20, the Teamsters Union could offer higher member of Teamster local 679. Al the present time, University reputation. a wages than the UFW. But he said meet "We are sympathetic to the farm Casework and jasper are in arbitration "We've successfully completed about iouthern Teamsters Union dues were double those workers," added Garcia. "We are telling over their Duncan Hall differences. $150 million in public works projects State of the UFW. the Teamsters to lay off Cesar Chavez." However, when asked why Jasper without any problems," he said. were Larry Tramutt, spokesman for the Tramutt. UFW spokesman, said one of would choose contractors who he would Wilson cited Jasper's work on a number dco and United Farm Workers said, the picketing the problems of the Salinas valley later face in court. Wilson said, "He a of Holiday Inns as well as construction Oregon. is limited to Safeway stores because it Teamsters contracts is they do not doesn't have much of a choice in the case of the the De Anza College Flint Center for a 28-24 sells one out of every four heads of lettuce provide for a union hall where the JIM Bauman of public buildings. the Performing Arts as a few of jasper's Tech. Duncan Hall: modern, but faulty? grown in the U.S. workers can voice their grievances. "A general contractor has to take the accomplishments. In another San Jose strike, 20 persons Garica said 11.000 workers belong to picketed Mervyn's department store on the local Teamsters Union. About 40 members picketed the Safeway store White and Story roads. They protested during the morning. However, the number Tuesday, February 13, 1973 stores selling Farah slacks. 'See story page 3.) decreased later in the day. Only two UFW San According to Tramutt, the Teamsters members were on the picket line. reet, "We are just barely getting organized," our- Union obtained "sweetheart" contracts with about 130 Salinas Valley lettuce said Garcia in response to a question growers in 1970. regarding the turnout. "Eventually we are Set The contracts were obtained behind going to picket other stores," he added. closed doors according to Tramutt, and Bob Wofford, manager of the Safeway involve about 15,000 lettuce pickers who store at First and Oak streets said, fice. would rather be represented by the "Business has decreased a small amount" artan Daily Don- United Farm Workers Union. because of the pickets. "But we support Serving California State University at San Jose Since 1934 216, The purpose of the protest. said Garcia, Safeway's cause," and our stand is to sell urti: is to force the lettuce growers to deal with lettuce." he added.