FEBRUARY UPDATE ON LENNAR SETTLEMENT AFTER 1-30-25 COURT HEARING:
February 26, 2025
Greetings,
We filed this action against multiple defendants including Tetra Tech, Lennar, and Five Point. The Navy hired Tetra Tech to clean radiological contamination from the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard (HPNS). Tetra Tech lied about its cleanup.
Lennar and Five Point are developers who built housing on Parcel A. We sued Lennar and Five Point to stop them from further developing Parcel A until there were tests to show that it was safe. The first lawsuit did not ask for money from Lennar or Five Point. The first lawsuit asked the court to prevent Lennar and Five Point from further developing Parcel A.
After filing the lawsuit, we started talks with Lennar and Five Point to try to settle our claims against them. Lennar and Five Point are also suing Tetra Tech.
In June 2020, we learned that Lennar started digging on Parcel A. We then amended our lawsuit to seek money damages from Lennar and Five Point.
After a long negotiation, we agreed on terms to settle the case against Lennar and Five Point based on the digging in 2020.
After we agreed on terms to settle the case, we and all the other parties suing Tetra Tech, agreed to work together. This is common when different parties are suing the same company.
In this case there were more than four other cases against Tetra Tech where the plaintiffs were suing Tetra Tech for the same conduct. All the attorneys agreed to coordinate efforts in our cases against Tetra Tech. This mostly meant dividing up who was taking specific depositions.
After we settled the case with Lennar and Five Point, they filed a motion for a determination by the court that the settlement was in “good faith.” This type of motion is common when there are multiple defendants and the settlement does not involve all the defendants. In this case, we settled with Lennar and Five Point, but did not settle with Tetra Tech. In the motion, Lennar and Five Point asked the court to determine that the settlement was in good faith.
Unfortunately, on Thursday, February 20, 2025, we received the Order from the January 30, 2025, court hearing denying Lennar and Five Point’s good faith motion. Approval of this motion was a requirement for Lennar and Five Point to pay the settlement.
The court was concerned because after we negotiated the terms of the settlement in 2021, we agreed to work together with Lennar and Five Point against Tetra Tech. Our office did not actually sign the agreement until 2023. But the court was concerned that we had not negotiated in good faith.
The court was totally wrong. We used two mediators and negotiated for over a year, before even talking about the agreement to work together with the other cases. We tried to explain to the court that the agreement was in good faith, but he did not agree.
We were not expecting this outcome and apologize for having to bring you this unexpected update.
It is not clear where we go from here. We are talking with Lennar and Five Point about engaging further negotiations. We have also reached out to Tetra Tech to see if they are interested in negotiating.
Lennar may decide to pay the settlement even without the good faith determination. If we settle with Lennar, Five Point and Tetra Tech, at the same time, the judge will not have to rule on the issue of good faith.
We understand why many of you feel like giving up. This is a complicated lawsuit to win. As your attorneys, we want you to know we are still in the ring, still litigating with the defendants, still fighting for justice, and not giving up.
There are no words to express the enormous disappointment for all 6500 of you who have done everything asked of you to get this far in the lawsuit and still have nothing to show for it.
A trial date is set for 2026. The year 2025 is being spent preparing discovery, depositions and motions for trial and still working toward a settlement with both Tetra Tech and Lennar-
We are arranging a Question-and-Answer session by Zoom for everyone to join and discuss moving forward-
We will send out a blast and post the date and time here on the website, once we know.
The Joe Lee Gym is not available during basketball and soccer season, so at this point, we will meet in a couple weeks in a large group setting by Zoom and will then post the recorded Zoom link on the website for anyone not able to attend the Zoom-
Lawsuits are tough and can be grueling-
WE THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED PATIENCE-
and pray for your safety and well-being-
In Unity,
Charles and Cabral Bonner
Attorneys for Plaintiffs
Bayview Hunters Point Residents Lawsuit
FEBRUARY UPDATE ON LENNAR SETTLEMENT AFTER 1-30-25 COURT HEARING:
February 26, 2025
Greetings,
We filed this action against multiple defendants including Tetra Tech, Lennar, and Five Points. The Navy hired Tetra Tech to clean radiological contamination from the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard (HPNS). Tetra Tech lied about its cleanup.
Lennar and Five Point are developers who built housing on Parcel A. We sued Lennar and Five Point to stop them from further developing Parcel A until there were tests to show that it was safe. The first lawsuit did not ask for money from Lennar or Five Point. The first lawsuit asked the court to prevent Lennar and Five Point from further developing Parcel A.
After filing the lawsuit, we started talks with Lennar and Five Point to try to settle our claims against them. Lennar and Five Point are also suing Tetra Tech.
In June 2020, we learned that Lennar started digging on Parcel A. We then amended our lawsuit to seek money damages from Lennar and Five Point.
After a long negotiation, we agreed on terms to settle the case against Lennar and Five Point based on the digging in 2020.
After we agreed on terms to settle the case, we and all the other parties suing Tetra Tech, agreed to work together. This is common when different parties are suing the same company.
In this case there were more than four other cases against Tetra Tech where the plaintiffs were suing Tetra Tech for the same conduct. All the attorneys agreed to coordinate efforts in our cases against Tetra Tech. This mostly meant dividing up who was taking specific depositions.
After we settled the case with Lennar and Five Point, they filed a motion for a determination by the court that the settlement was in “good faith.” This type of motion is common when there are multiple defendants and the settlement does not involve all the defendants. In this case, we settled with Lennar and Five Point, but did not settle with Tetra Tech. In the motion, Lennar and Five Point asked the court to determine that the settlement was in good faith.
Unfortunately, on Thursday, February 20, 2025, we received the Order from the January 30, 2025, court hearing denying Lennar and Five Point’s good faith motion. Approval of this motion was a requirement for Lennar and Five Point to pay the settlement.
The court was concerned because after we negotiated the terms of the settlement in 2021, we agreed to work together with Lennar and Five Point against Tetra Tech. Our office did not actually sign the agreement until 2023. But the court was concerned that we had not negotiated in good faith.
The court was totally wrong. We used two mediators and negotiated for over a year, before even talking about the agreement to work together with the other cases. We tried to explain to the court that the agreement was in good faith, but he did not agree.
We were not expecting this outcome and apologize for having to bring you this unexpected update.
It is not clear where we go from here. We are talking with Lennar and Five Point about engaging further negotiations. We have also reached out to Tetra Tech to see if they are interested in negotiating.
Lennar may decide to pay the settlement even without the good faith determination. If we settle with Lennar, Five Point and Tetra Tech, at the same time, the judge will not have to rule on the issue of good faith.
We understand why many of you feel like giving up. This is a complicated lawsuit to win. As your attorneys, we want you to know we are still in the ring, still litigating with the defendants, still fighting for justice, and not giving up.
There are no words to express the enormous disappointment for all 6500 of you who have done everything asked of you to get this far in the lawsuit and still have nothing to show for it.
A trial date is set for 2026. The year 2025 is being spent preparing discovery, depositions and motions for trial and still working toward a settlement with both Tetra Tech and Lennar-
We are arranging a Question-and-Answer session by Zoom for everyone to join and discuss moving forward-
We will send out a blast and post the date and time here on the website.
The Joe Lee Gym is not available during basketball and soccer season, so at this point, we will meet in a couple weeks in a large group setting by Zoom and will then post the recorded Zoom link on the website for anyone not able to attend the Zoom-
Lawsuits are tough and can be grueling-
WE THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED PATIENCE-
and pray for your safety and well-being-
In Unity,
Charles and Cabral Bonner
Attorneys for Plaintiffs
Bayview Hunters Point Residents Lawsuit
