(C) Iowa Capital Dispatch
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Contractor sues county over $5.7 million in fees tied to law enforcement center • Iowa Capital Dispatch [1]
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Date: 2025-08-01
A building contractor is suing the Woodbury County Law Enforcement Center Authority, alleging it publicly disclosed false and defamatory information about the company.
Hausmann Construction Inc. of Lincoln, Nebraska, is suing the authority, Woodbury County, the architectural firms Introba Inc. and Goldberg Group Architects (GGA), and construction manager The Baker Group in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa.
The lawsuit stems from a long-running dispute over the design and construction of the $70 million Woodbury County Law Enforcement Center on 28th Street in Sioux City. The authority was created to facilitate the completion of the design and construction of the center, and Hausmann served as the prime or general contractor for the project.
The lawsuit alleges the $43 million center that was initially contemplated by the parties in June 2021 is not the $70 million center that was constructed and exists today. “Throughout the life of the project, a multitude of issues have plagued the construction and completion of the Law Enforcement Center, stemming from certain design errors and omissions as put forth by GGA as the lead architect for the project,” the lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit claims the alleged design errors brought the project “to a screeching halt in June 2023, which in turn has delayed almost every subsequent aspect of the project, increasing the ultimate cost of the project, and thereby bringing about” the current lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, Hausmann unfairly “bears the brunt of many of the accusations for the overall delay in completion.” As recently as July 2, 2025, the lawsuit alleges, the authority acknowledged that the delay in completion of the project stemmed from the design errors. Despite that, the lawsuit claims, the authority has continued to “craft its own narrative of the issues plaguing the project to save GGA, Introba, and Baker Group from incurring additional expenses.”
On July 3, 2025, the authority, along with Woodbury County, allegedly sent a “confidential” 22-page demand letter to Hausmann, GGA, and Introba to facilitate settlement discussions. Despite knowing that the confidential letter was subject to disclosure under Iowa’s Open Records Law, the authority and county crafted the letter to include “various false and defamatory statements against Hausmann regarding Hausmann’s performance on the project,” the lawsuit claims.
Hausmann’s other projects and future projects have allegedly “been impacted by the authority’s release” of the letter, as “numerous news outlets have created damaging articles about Hausmann based on untrue and unsubstantiated allegations” within the letter, the lawsuit states.
“It is apparent that the authority, GGA, Introba, and Baker Group have very close outside relationships with each other, demonstrating a clear conflict of interest,” the lawsuit alleges, asserting that Baker Group hired the son of one authority member to oversee and manage the construction of the project.
“Given the cozy relationship between the authority, GGA, Introba, and Baker Group, it has been easiest for the authority to blame Hausmann for delays and refuse to pay Hausmann for its completion of the project,” the lawsuit claims.
In June 2023, for example, it was discovered that that design plans had failed to include fire and smoke dampers in the building’s heating, cooling and ventilation systems. “The omission of the dampers was a clear design error and a life-safety threat where occupants could not be evacuated in the event of a fire at the authority’s facility,” the lawsuit alleges.
Construction of the building was completed last year and it is now occupied and operational. But as a result of the various delays, the authority has allegedly refused to pay Hausmann for $5.7 million that the company says it is owed for its work.
The lawsuit alleges breach of contract and unjust enrichment by the authority, professional negligence by Introba and GGA, and tortious interference with business relationships by each of the defendants.
The defendants in the case have yet to file a response to the lawsuit. The Woodbury County attorney could not be reached for comment Friday.
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