Underground Construction v. City of Oakland CA1/4

I. INTRODUCTION

Underground Construction Co., Inc. (Underground) worked on a construction project in Oakland (the Project) that included relocating existing overhead electrical, telephone, and cable television lines into conduit laid in underground trenches; removing and replacing sidewalks and adding ramps; and installing utility boxes and street light foundations. During the course of the Project, disputes arose between Underground, the City of Oakland (the City), and the owners of the affected utility lines1 regarding how much Underground was owed for certain aspects of the work. Ultimately, Underground

1 The utility lines being moved belonged to Comcast of California/Colorado, LLC (Comcast); Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E); and Pacific Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T). AT&T was variously known during some of the relevant time periods as Pacific Telephone and Telegraph, Pacific Bell, or SBC, but for simplicity, we will refer to it simply as AT&T. We will refer to Comcast, PG&E, and AT&T collectively as the Utilities.

1 sued the City and the Utilities (collectively the Owner Parties) for additional sums it alleged were due under the contract for the Project. Underground and the…