Written by Tribune
Monday, 16 July 2012
00:00
A noted restaurateur
based in Makati City sued recently a plush condominium and its property
manager, Fraser Place Manila, for millions of pesos in damages after a sewer
pipe accident at the building’s third floor inundated her high-end dining place
with dirty and contaminated sewer water. The accident caused severe damage to
Le Bistro Vert restaurant, which eventually prompted its owner to close the
dining place.
In a complaint filed
with a regional trial court in Makati City, businesswoman Pacita Juan of Ecofoods
of the Earth Inc., which operated high-end restaurant Le Bistro Vert, sued
Forbes Tower Condominium Corp. (FTCC), owner of the Forbes Tower Condominium in
Makati City, and its property manager, Fraser Place Manila.
Fraser Place Manila is
operated by Frasers Hospitality Philippines Inc., which is one of the regional
offices of Singapore-based Frasers Hospitality Pte Ltd. Both are under Frasers
Centrepoint Ltd., a holding company of Fraser and Neave (F&N Group), which
has diversified into many other business areas such as property investment and
development, breweries, dairy products, glass products, publishing and
printing.
Juan and Ecofoods
claimed actual damages of over P10.2 million to cover the following: repairs
and the replacement of equipment of Le Bistro Vert; payment for compensation of
terminated employees, including their earned wages, separation pay and
proportionate 13th month pay; loss of income, realized and unrealized; and
brand equity of Le Bistro Vert.
The restaurateur also
claimed moral damages in the amount of P500,000; exemplary damages in the
amount of P200,000; and attorney’s fees in the amount of P1 million plus costs
of suit.
In its complaint,
Ecofoods claimed that FTCC and Fraser Place “as owner, proprietor, lessor and
operator of Forbes Tower, should have been more prudent and circumspect in
maintaining the structural integrity of its premises, including electrical
wirings, pipes and sewers. They should have recognized the impending danger
that their omission would pose to plaintiffs, to its other lessees, and to the
public in general. Defendants are thus responsible for the damage caused to
plaintiffs.”
Last Dec. 23, 2011,
while Le Bistro Vert was packed with guests, the sewage drain pipe of Unit 306
of Forbes Tower, which was directly above Le Bistro Vert, burst and flooded the
restaurant with gallons of putrid water. This forced the closure of the
restaurant the day after, and it has remained closed since then.
“As a result of the
unexpected and sudden closure of Le Bistro Vert, plaintiffs suffered
substantial business losses. Aside from the actual loss of income arising from
the closure of the business, plaintiffs had to deal with the expiration of
their perishable goods stored, cancellation of bookings and reservations as well
as turning down of reservation proposals, and even the payment of the salaries
or compensation for their suspended and eventually-terminated well-trained
employees. All of these gravely tarnished the good name and the reputation of
Le Bistro Vert, which plaintiffs had worked so hard to establish,” Juan said in
her complaint.
And instead of
addressing their concerns as lessees, the complainants claimed that “FTCC chose
to ignore” them and instead just directed them to an “insurance adjuster.”
Also, citing a supposed provision in their lease contract, the building owner
and the property manager claimed they could not be held responsible for
accidents such as pipes bursting or leaking. But Juan and Ecofoods countered
that FTCC and Fraser Place Manila were bound by their assurance that the leased
premises was “structurally secure and of good condition.”
The complainants also
claimed that FTCC and Fraser Place Manila had informed them that a
representative of Fraser and Neave in Singapore was requesting for a meeting to
discuss the incident. But the meeting never pushed through. Thus, failing to
amicably settle the matter, the restaurateur opted to sue.
Juan and Ecofoods
claimed that “the failure of FTCC and Fraser to maintain the leased premises in
tenantable condition, and ensure that the premises are in sound structural
condition, was the proximate cause of the damage” to them. “It was clearly the
duty of the defendants, as lessors, to ensure that the plaintiffs, as lessees,
would be able to enjoy their leased premises free from impediment or fear of
structural defect,” they said.
“Further, the damage
caused to the plaintiffs was directly attributable to the fault of the
defendants when they were extremely negligent in maintaining their property… As
proprietor, operator and lessor, defendants were tasked to see to it that the
condominium remained to be structurally sound. The fact that what had burst was
a sewer pipe of another unit instantly removes any contributory negligence on
the part of the plaintiffs,” they added.
Prior to the sewage pipe
incident in December 2011, the complainants alleged that from the months of
April to October of that year, there were other building issues that plagued
the restaurant, including erratic water pressure that caused damage to
expensive equipment such as espresso machine and ice maker; lack or running
water in restroom faucets due to trouble from old valves; back flow of water
from the kitchen grease trap; failed telephone lines and internet connection
that prevented credit card payment transactions; the heavy smell of paint-like
or thinner-like odor spreading over the restaurant; and power fluctuations that
caused damage to the restaurants’ split-type air-conditioning.
In claiming additional
compensation by way of exemplary damages, Juan and Ecofoods asserted that
FTCC’s and Fraser Place Manila’s “wanton failure to maintain and secure the
structural integrity of the Forbes Tower building and its facility caused
serious damage to the plaintiffs and pose a serious threat to the inhabitants
of Forbes Tower as well as the neighborhood,” noting that the laboratory test
conducted on the sample of the sewer water that leaked into Le Bistro Vert
“exceeded amounts of Heterotrophioc Plate Count and Coliform Count, which are
harmful to humans.”
Ecofoods and Juan also
said the exemplary damages should be given them to set an “example or
correction for the public good and in order to prevent other owner developers
and managers from committing the same unmindful and negligent acts and delayed
reply or action to the report of accident.”
They are also claiming
moral damages, alleging that “the leak of harmful sewage water into the
premises of Le Bistro Vert, which eventually resulted in its sudden closure,
has tarnished the good name and reputation of Le Bistro Vert.”
They also said they were
unsure how to explain to the customers the cause of their sudden closure
“because to announce that sewage water leaked into and inundated the restaurant
would certainly cast a negative cloud upon Le Bistro Vert.”
Ultimately, they
claimed, because of the accident that was attributable to FTCC’s and Fraser’s
negligence, all their efforts to establish the name of the restaurant and its
reputation as a dining place had suddenly “come to naught.”
“The incident caused by
the leak from the sewage pipe owned by defendants, and the latter’s act of
leading plaintiffs on to believe an amicable settlement could be reached and
then simply ignore the just demands of herein plaintiffs and the lateness of
the reply of the defendants to plaintiffs report of accident, have directly
caused injury to the goodwill of Le Bistro Vert as a business entity,” the
complainants alleged.
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