Opinion ID: 474514
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: First Mobilization Damages

Text: 55 Bagwell's final claim on cross-appeal is that the district court erred in refusing to award it damages that it allegedly incurred during the first mobilization. 56 We hold, however, that the district court's factual determination that the conditions Bagwell faced during the first mobilization did not merit damages is not clearly erroneous. First, we note that Bagwell made no timely submission of a claim for damages during the first mobilization. There was no written complaint to Bechtel about working conditions until March 17, 1978, despite the fact that Bagwell began fireproofing in July 1977. Further, in Bagwell's first formal submission for a claim, the conditions under which Bagwell was working were stated by it to be within the required specifications. Luis Gonzalez, Bagwell's president, stated that this claim did not pertain to and thus was not relevant to the first mobilization, and that even though the above claim took place ten months after the termination of the first mobilization, only subsequently did Bagwell realize that it had a claim for compensation because of incurred losses. Nevertheless, this evidence still tends to establish that the changed conditions were not serious or regarded as such by Bagwell, because the damage was neither apparent nor reported for a long period of time. Unlike the second mobilization, there was no claim filed for additional compensation in anything resembling a timely manner. Additionally, Mr. Mohl of Bechtel testified that the obstructions in the first mobilization were isolated. 57 We also note that Bagwell's newfounded reliance on the lack of work releases as a cause of damages in the first mobilization could be viewed by the district court as not credible, especially in light of the long delay in presenting that claim. We note that the district court had the facts about the work releases before it, and there is no indication from the record that the district court refused to consider this evidence in its denial of damages for the first mobilization. 58 We hold that the district court's factual finding that damages are not owed by Middle South for Bechtel's actions during the first mobilization is not clearly erroneous.