University of Iowa asks judge not to dismiss Children’s Hospital windows lawsuit

IOWA CITY — More than a year after the University of Iowa sued a pair of contractors it said was responsible for installing defective and “potentially life-safety threatening” windows on at least nine floors of its 14-story Stead Family Children’s Hospital, UI attorneys report an arbitration hearing is set for May.

In September 2022, the UI agreed with defendants Cupples International and Knutson Construction Services Midwest — who it blamed for the faulty work requiring at least $45 million in window replacement costs — to arbitrate the substance of the disputes before the American Arbitration Association.

But without an agreement more than 10 months later, the Johnson County District Court — more than 13 months after the case was filed June 10, 2022 — last week notified both sides the suit would be dismissed Jan. 1 if not tried before then.

The court, citing an Iowa rule requiring cases more than one year old to be tried before the start of a new calendar year, said in its dismissal notice that trials or trial-setting conferences held after Dec. 31 “will not serve to avoid dismissal.”

Cases affected by the rule are to be dismissed “at plaintiff’s costs unless satisfactory reasons for want of prosecution or grounds for continuance be shown.”

UI attorneys responded to the notice Tuesday by asking the court not to dismiss the case for lack of activity — noting neither side can provide a date of a final arbitration award “until the evidence is concluded.” Arbitration is set for May 6-24, 2024.

“After there is a final arbitration award, one or more parties may seek to enforce the award in this action, but there will not be a need for a trial on the merits,” according to the UI request.

The university first discovered problems with its Children’s Hospital windows on floors four and five in July 2019 — just two years after the hospital opened in 2017. Over time, the number of windows affected has swelled to nine floors — tripling the $15 million the UIHC originally planned to spend replacing the faulty windows to $45 million.

Windows now need to be replaced on floors three through 11, with UI Health Care officials explaining the hospital is "experiencing systemic issues with the windows failing to perform consistent with the agreed upon specifications.”

The additional spending on window replacement — plus mounting legal fees tied to a separate contractor dispute — could further balloon the 507,000-square-foot hospital’s budget from its original $270.8 million to $450 million.

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