The plaintiffs, owners of a comic book store and a hobby shop, sued the defendant contractors for damages after a water main ruptured during construction, flooding their basements and destroying inventory.
The court found that the plaintiffs could not sue under the contract between the municipality and the defendants, as the exception to privity of contract only operates defensively.
However, the court found the defendants liable in negligence for failing to use alternate backfill or delay compaction when undermining the old, fragile water main.
The court awarded damages of $125,000 to the comic book store and $88,850.50 to the hobby shop, preferring the defendants' expert valuation of the destroyed comic books as random overstock.
