Apparently, lots of people would like to sue CenterPoint. Can’t really say I’m surprised.
Seen at I-10 and Sawyer
It took a week after Hurricane Beryl swept through Houston for CenterPoint to fully restore the power at Mechelle Tran’s Gulf Coast-inspired resaurant Riel.
She and Ryan Lachaine, the chef-partner of the well-liked neighborhood joint in Montrose, said there was a brief sense of relief Monday when the A/C and kitchen hood clicked on.
“It was like being on pins and needles the entire time,” Tran said. “Then there was also a sense of, ‘Am I going to survive this?’”
When the May derecho shut down Riel for three days, Tran said the restaurant simply “sucked it up” and reopened as soon as they could.
This time around, the financial loss is more significant: a majority of the inventory was thrown out, workers were still being paid even though the restaurant remained dark. On the first day back, they could only serve a limited takeout-only menu.
Houston restaurant operators expect to face severe weather events like Beryl; but keeping a restaurant closed for an extended period of time due to power outages could shut down business for good — especially during the already slow summer months.
Riel joined more than 100 restaurants that are now part of Tony Buzbee’s class-action lawsuit against CenterPoint. They claim CenterPoint’s negligence led to restaurants losing thousands of dollars and could contribute to businesses’ demise. The lawsuit mentions plaintiffs including restaurateurs such as Ben Berg and Hugo Ortega, along with restaurants such as Killen’s and Fung’s Kitchen.
“Nobody is in this to just get money from CenterPoint,” Tran said. “We’re so much at a loss for the dollar that the end goal is to fix a system that’s broken.”
[…]
Buzbee said class-action lawsuits require countless hours of documentation but that restaurants may have a stronger case because successful restaurateurs often “keep track of every penny they’ve lost.”
Houston restaurants of all sizes have signed onto the lawsuit, but it also includes a handful of plaintiffs in Galveston, including Mario’s and Saltwater Grill. Restaurants also tend to be in the spotlight more when it comes to media coverage and social media, he added.
“There has to be some sort of accountability on behalf of CenterPoint or they’re never going to change,” Buzbee said.
The Chronicle reached out to CenterPoint for comment but did not receive a response before publishing this story.
See here for the background. I have nothing but love and respect for the restaurants and their owners, who were absolutely put in a terrible position by the storm and CenterPoint’s response to it. They deserve to be made whole for their losses. Insurance will cover some of that, perhaps quite a bit of it, but I agree that providing some incentive for CenterPoint to do better next time is a good goal. The mechanism by which courts do that is monetary damages, so as far as that goes it is about getting money from CenterPoint. And I wish them well in that regard.
Beyond that, I’m mostly curious about the mechanics and likelihood of success of this lawsuit. I found this overview of class action lawsuits in Texas, which I googled around for because we usually don’t get those, just regular ol’ torts. I’d love to know what some actual lawyers think about this. How good a case does Buzbee have? Please let us know.
This is going anywhere. As soon as a Judge rules that CPoint owes restaurants money for lost income, then every business category known to man is going to file a lawsuit – nail salons, check cashing places, grocery stores, The Galleria in toto… and SCOTX and it’s minions underneath are never going to rule against the sole utility monopoly in the State.
*ISN’T going anywhere…
Buzbee knows how to generate publicity, but I agree—I doubt this suit is going far. I’m not sure how Buzbee intends to get past this limitation of liability in CenterPoint’s tariff:
Company will make reasonable provisions to supply steady and continuous Delivery Service, but does not guarantee the Delivery Service against fluctuations or interruptions. Company will not be liable for any damages, whether direct or consequential, including, without limitation, loss of profits, loss of revenue, or loss of production capacity, occasioned by fluctuations or interruptions unless it be shown that Company has not made reasonable provision to supply steady and continuous Delivery Service, consistent with the Retail Customer’s class of service, and in the event of a failure to make such reasonable provisions, whether as a result of negligence or otherwise, Company’s liability shall be limited to the cost of necessary repairs of physical damage proximately caused by the service failure to those electrical delivery facilities of Retail Customer which were then equipped with the protective safeguards recommended or required by the then current edition of the National Electrical Code.
In other words, CenterPoint is not liable for any of your losses caused by a service outage except for possibly damage to your electrical equipment (wires, breaker box, meter, etc.).
Kenneth, you hit the nail on the head.
Buzbee doesn’t seem to be interested in tort reform, and that whole frivilous thang.
A company stating it’s “limit of liability” doesn’t make it exempt.
Especially if negligence or gross negligence can be proven, with their track record that shouldn’t be too difficult.
When you enter a car wash, a sign stating that they are not responsible for damage to your vehicle doesn’t make it so, they have a responsibility to maintain their equipment so that it doesn’t break anything on your car/truck….
I agree with Robert. It’s not like anyone gets to negotiate terms of service with CenterPoint – in fact, if you don’t have gas service you don’t pay them even indirectly.
The fear of having everyone and their dog try to tag along is a bit of a red herring. Class certification is very difficult, and one element is that the class members need to have essentially all the major facts in common other than perhaps calculation of individual damages. OTOH, filing 100 plus individual lawsuits isn’t that heavy a lift if you have the staff for it.
Rats – no edit function. What I meant to say is “you don’t pay them except indirectly”
Pingback: Another class action lawsuit filed against CenterPoint | Off the Kuff