Fishkin Lucks and local Florida counsel secured today a directed verdict on behalf of Sto Corp. at a jury trial of a more than $9 million construction defect/strict liability (failure to warn) case brought by the owner of the Margaritaville Hotel on Pensacola Beach, Florida. The hotel owner brought the case in the Circuit Court of Escambia County, Florida, against its general contractor (who then impleaded a number of its subcontractors), alleging that it negligently constructed the hotel; and against Sto, which manufactured the finish coat installed as a component of the hotel’s exterior building envelope, alleging that the finish coat was defective because Sto failed to warn that it allegedly was prone to damage if large volumes of water traveled behind it. Following discovery that stretched over two years, which included the production of tens of thousands of pages of construction documents and drawings, more than twenty fact and expert witness depositions, and a lengthy mediation at which the general contractor and its subs eventually settled, Sto proceeded to trial with the hotel owner on January 19, 2016. Upon the close of the owner’s case, the Firm and local counsel moved for a directed verdict on the basis of Florida’s economic loss doctrine. The Court granted the motion several days later, directing a verdict in Sto’s favor, after extensive briefing by the parties.
