This is a $3 MM arbitration award against Orkin.
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Homeowner bests Orkin
ST. JOHNS COUNTY -- A St. Johns County homeowner recently won a $3 million judgment in an arbitration against Atlanta-based Orkin Exterminating Co. and its parent company, publicly-traded Rollins Inc.
The eight-day arbitration came nearly eight years after the plaintiff signed a contract with Orkin to rid his home of swarming termites. The three arbitrators hearing the case concluded that there was "clear and compelling evidence" that Orkin and Rollins failed to perform necessary repairs, failed to obtain permits for repairs, failed to treat the termite problem properly and failed to disclose to the homeowner the extent of the damage caused by the termite infestation.
Legal arbitrations aren't subject to Florida's Sunshine Law, so documents aren't public record. Alan Wachs, an attorney with Holland & Knight in Jacksonville who helped represent the plaintiff, made the arbitrators' findings available on condition the plaintiff's name not be disclosed.
Orkin contracts, including the 1995 contract that prompted this case, include clauses in which customers agree to take any legal complaints to arbitration rather than the court system. Wachs said arbitration cases can be expensive to pursue since complainants must pay not only a lawyer, but also a portion of the arbitrators' fees. That can discourage people from pursuing complaints against companies. In this case, the arbitrators ordered Orkin and Rollins to pay the plaintiff's attorney fees.
"Most consumers out there can't afford to litigate like Orkin," Wachs said. "My client was one of those few people who could stick it out 'til the end." West Palm Beach lawfirm Searcy, Denney, Scarola, Barnhart and Shipley served as lead counsel in the case.
According to the arbitrators' findings, the plaintiff originally contracted with Orkin in 1995 to rid his home of termites and repair damage. But swarms of termites kept returning each year through 2000, when the plaintiff hired a local contractor to oversee Orkin's work.
According to the arbitrators' findings, Orkin and Rollins represented to the plaintiff that his home was free of termite infestation when they knew or should have known that the home was not appropriately treated for termite infestation.
The findings also state that Orkin and Rollins maintained a compensation system for employees that gave them an incentive to breach the repair obligations contained in the guarantee given to the plaintiff. Repairs were superficial and were done without a permit, which was required and which would have led to inspections that would have revealed the superficial nature of the repairs.
"A building inspector would never allow [Orkin] to get away with simply patching the exit holes for the termites and plastering over it," said Chris Searcy, one of the lead attorneys representing the plaintiff.
The arbitrators also found that Orkin had not screened its subcontractors and permitted subcontractors who were on probation for felonies, to work in the plaintiff's home.
Such allegations aren't new to Orkin and Rollins. Last year, Westminster Associates of Charleston, S.C., won a $1.8 million judgment against Orkin for termite damage repairs to Planter's Walk, a 216-unit apartment complex Westminster owns on Jacksonville's Westside.
