Drowning in Lawsuits, Liability

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Subcontractors Fight Back

By Deanna Broxton

For more than a quarter of a century, Guy Fasanaro was an entrepreneur, doing what most only dream about — running his own business. Fasanaro envisioned one day selling his pro?table, quality-based company and retiring. However, he had no idea that his plans would be derailed by exorbitant liability-insurance costs. With his pro?ts eroded, he couldn’t raise his prices high enough or fast enough to stay competitive.
     Fasanaro is a general contractor and previously owned Buck Stoves West Inc. a company that installed prefabricated, factory-built ? replaces into new construction. March 1 of this year, he sold his business’ assets and now works as a business development and quality assurance consultant for its purchaser — HNI Corp. Buck Stoves West was completely dissolved and, under the headship of Hearth and Home, a subsidiary of HNI, operates as Fireside Hearth and Home.“
     I got about one-third of what I would’ve ?ve years ago. It was pathetic after 26 years in business. It was really a distress sale. But if I hadn’t done that I would have been out of business and bankrupt within two years,” explains Fasanaro. “The world that I’ve lived in the last six to 10 years has just been a nightmare. It’s been so wrong and it’s really kind of remark-able that it’s ever been allowed to get this way.”
     Fasanaro is just one example of an unquanti?able number of small subcontractors forced to sell their companies, go out of business or go bankrupt trying to stay a? oat while simultaneously dodging lawsuits and paying exorbitant general-liability-insurance premiums.

Say Goodbye to the Little Guy
As a much larger company, HNI can self-insure for up to the ?rst $10 million, something Fasanaro could not do. And, until the Legislature passed related legislation, he believed it was only a matter of time before the big companies were the only ones in business. 
Continued...

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