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Licensing Board for Contractors member, his son sued by subcontractors for combined $435,000
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BATON ROUGE — A Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors member and his son are being sued by subcontractors who allege they are owed more than $430,000 for work.
According to suits filed in the 19th JDC, Harvey Honore Jr. and his son Aaron Honore, as part of Harvey Honore and Company, did not pay the subcontractors a combined $434,654.34 for work performed on multiple construction projects. The lawsuits also ask the Honores to pay legal fees and interest.
The first lawsuit was filed on July 21 by Jonathan Grimmett of Construction Specialties. The lawsuit alleges that Grimmett's company was subcontracted by the Honores on six projects, including multiple projects at St. Michael High School in Baton Rouge.
The lawsuit claims that, despite multiple payment requests, the Honores refused to pay $349,344.40 owed to Grimmett and his company for the work. Grimmett argues this is a breach of contract.
There is a hearing in this case on Nov. 30.
The second lawsuit was filed on Aug. 18 by Walker-based plumbing company Plumbing M.D.
This lawsuit alleges that the plumbing company was subcontracted by the Honores for work at two Lonestar Electric Supply locations in Lafayette and Baton Rouge, as well as two Baton Rouge homes, one of which is owned by the younger Honore.
Plumbing M.D. alleges that $85,309.94 was left unpaid, citing the same breach of contract as the Grimmett lawsuit.
Both lawsuits allege that the Honores violated the Louisiana Private Works Act.
Harvey Honore Jr. was confirmed as a member of the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors earlier this year after being appointed by Gov. Jeff Landry. According to the board's website, members serve six-year terms.
"Given his position on the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors, defendant Harvey Honore Jr.'s conduct is particularly egregious, as he is specifically charged with knowledge of and adherence to Louisiana's contractor licensing, ethical and regulatory standards, and his intentional failure to pay [Grimmett] despite receiving project funds evidences willful misconduct and bad faith," the lawsuit says.
The Honores attorney, Steven Loeb, shared the following statement:
As the attorney for Harvey Honore and Co., LLC, this statement is limited due to pending civil litigation. In that lawsuit, the Plaintiff originally named himself personally instead of his company (that) holds the license. The written subcontract agreements are between the two companies, not individuals personally. The money allegedly owed is for work pursuant to those subcontracts which requires that before payment is due, the Subcontractor must perform certain tasks that were not done and thus payment is not due. The Court will decide this issue next month. Honore seeks to have the Petition dismissed as payment is not due.
The lawsuit names Mr. Harvey Honore, Jr. personally. He is a member of the Louisiana Licensing Board for Contractors and a well-respected contractor and community leader. Given that at the heart of this matter is a commercial dispute between a contractor and its subcontractor for money on work per written subcontracts, any allegation made against Mr. Harvey Honore, Jr. personally should be dismissed. Mr. Harvey Honore, Jr. has no personal liability, and we consider the allegations against Mr. Honore as defamatory.
All allegations stem from an alleged failure to pay and the Petition has no merit if the money is not owed. While HHC denies that any amount is due, we are pursuing and will continue to pursue a commercial resolution instead of litigation.
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