Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley, P.A. (SDSBS), which won $3 million from Orkin Exterminating, Inc. last September, has filed another complaint against Orkin and its parent company, Rollins, Inc. The complaint, which was filed in the Circuit Court of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit in Broward County, also names Greg Saladino, Orkin’s local Branch Manager.
Filed last Friday (2/13/04) on behalf of 80-year-old widow Elisa Rose Giordano, the complaint alleges that an employee of Orkin had forged her late husband’s signature on a service contract a full seven months after Michael Giordano had passed away.
Seeking judgment in Mrs. Giordano’s favor for “recoverable damages, including compensatory damages, and attorneys’ fees and costs,” the complaint alleges that actions by Orkin and Russell involved “a pattern of racketeering, included but not limited to the predicate acts of theft, fraud and forgery, and/or attempted criminal acts.“
“This is just another outrageous example of Orkin abusing the people of Florida,” said attorney Sean C. Domnick of SDSBS. “Furthermore, this is not the first time that Orkin has been caught forging client signatures. It is a continuing pattern of deceit aimed at putting money in Orkin’s pockets at the expense of good people like Mrs. Giordano.”
Last September, following an 8-day arbitration hearing in Jacksonville, Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley clients Collier & Peggie Black were awarded a total of $3 million from Orkin Exterminating, Inc., consisting of $750,000 in compensatory damages and $2,250,000 in punitive damages.
Mr. & Mrs. Black entered Orkin’s arbitration process after years of problems, including repeated and severe termite invasions — more than 25 swarms in seven years — and Orkin’s failure to obtain both the proper legally required permits and inspections for repair work. The unanimous decision by the 3-person arbitration panel was announced on September 4, 2003.
AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEW:
The following people are available for media interviews:
* SDSBS attorney Sean C. Domnick. To arrange an interview, contact Gary Schweikhart at 561.756.4298
* Elizabeth Allen, who created the Web site www.termitealert.org and is now the only citizen appointee on an 11-member Florida Pest Control Enforcement Advisory Council, which includes eight members from the pest control industry. She can be reached at 904.285.1913 or 904.333.7676.
