Parrott Mechanical Inc., a longtime North Idaho heating, plumbing, and electrical contractor that once employed more than 400 people companywide, has closed its Coeur dAlene office and laid off most of its employees.


A Boise-based heating and ventilation contractor, TML LLC, opened last summer in Parrotts former headquarters, at 6600 N. Government Way, and is wrapping up some of Parrotts former contracts, says Tim LaMott, TMLs general manager. Both TML and Parrott are owned by the same company, Service Experts, of Richardson, Texas.


Parrott Mechanical is being managed to a close, LaMott says.


TML employs about 62 people in its Coeur dAlene office, some of whom are former Parrott employees, LaMott says. Another 30 people are employed at Service Experts of Washington, a Spokane company that, like TML, has taken over some of Parrotts business, he says.


TML provides mostly commercial heating and ventilation services, while Service Experts of Washingtonwhich does business as Parrott Service Expertshandles residential accounts, LaMott says. Parrott Mechanical had field offices in California and in Seattle that also have closed, he says.


Parrott employees were laid off in phases starting last spring, he says.


The company was founded more than 60 years ago in Coeur dAlene, and changed hands several times. A Hayden Lake couple, Howard and Delvona Rude, were the last independent owners of the company before it was bought by Service Experts in 1997. In January 2000, Service Experts was acquired by Lennox International Inc., which also is based in Texas.


The separation of the Rudes from Parrott was an apparently nasty split that has resulted in five lawsuits filed in Kootenai and Spokane counties.


The Rudes or their children, who also formerly were employed at Parrott, have filed four legal actions against the company in First District Court in Kootenai County. Parrott and its parent companies have countersued in each of those instances and also have filed a separate suit against the Rudes in Spokane County Superior Court. TML is not party to any of those suits, LaMott notes: All legal matters relating to Parrott are being handled by Service Experts and Lennox, he says.


Two suits concern leases


About the only thing all five lawsuits agree on is that the Rudes used to own Parrott, were employed by the company after it was acquired by Service Experts, and ended their employment there last November.


Two of the lawsuits stem from an alleged agreement by Service Experts and Lennox that Parrott would lease space in a Spokane Valley office park developed by the Rudes through a separate company.


The Rudes say in a lawsuit filed last February that their company, Rude Enterprises LLC, built the International Gateway Corporate Park with the understanding that Parrott would move in there. The office park is on the north side of Interstate 90, just east of the Argonne interchange.


The Rudes allege that Parrott signed two leases for space in the office park, pledging to pay a combined monthly rate of $26,700. They also allege that the leases were ratified by both Service Experts and Lennox, and that officials of both companies visited the construction site during the summer and fall of 2000. Howard Rude signed the lease in 1999 on behalf of Parrott and Delvona Rude signed it on behalf of Rude Enterprises, the suit says.


The lawsuit filed by Parrott in Spokane County Superior Court, however, says that, The execution of the leases was without the knowledge or authorization of (Service Experts) and done despite management direction to the contrary.


A related issue addressed in Parrotts suit against the Rudes, filed in August, is an allegation that Parrott, under Howard Rudes direction, performed more than $650,000 in work on the International Gateway Corporate Park buildings without a written contract or approval of any management, the suit says.


The Rudes ended up paying the majority of the money Parrott claims it was owed for that work, but Parrott went to court in the Spokane County Superior Court case to collect what it says is an unpaid balance of about $140,000.


In another lease-related action, Rude Enterprises sued Parrott last February claiming that Parrott broke a lease for warehouse and shop space in Coeur dAlene owned by the Rudes business. In its counterclaim, Parrott claims that the lease wasnt valid for a number of reasons.


The Rudes were granted a partial summary judgment in the warehouse-lease case this fall, and Parrott was ordered to pay a portion of the money that the Rudes say they are owed on the lease. That decision, however, is being appealed by Parrott.


Children file suit


Another lawsuit filed last February in Kootenai County District Court has as its plaintiffs Eric Rude and Cheree Johnston, the children of Howard and Delvona Rude. They allege that they were fired from Parrott within a week of one another in November last year, and are claiming wrongful discharge, breach of contract, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The company, in its counterclaim, says both were at will employees, and that their suit constitutes harassment of Parrott.


Yet a fourth lawsuit filed in Kootenai County District court last February was brought by Howard and Delvona Rude against Parrott, its parent companies, and its general manager, Tim Wagner, alleging slander, defamation, and libel. The suit accuses Wagner of making public statements accusing the Rudes of theft and stealing, and says the Rudes heard of the accusations from third parties, including fellow church parishioners, friends, and coworkers in the construction industry.


Parrott, in its countersuit, again says the action constitutes harassment against the company, but also goes on to allege that the Rudes engaged in various business improprieties.


No trial date has been set for any of the suits.


Howard Rude says he and his wife think we have a great chance (of prevailing in the suits), and the judge recognized that by granting partial summary judgment in the case concerning the warehouse lease.


Parrotts attorney, Matthew Andersen, of Spokane-based Winston & Cashatt Lawyers PS, says he will rely on the public filings for commentary on the cases.