Depositions scheduled for Mike Johnson, C. J. Huff in P1 lawsuit

Attorneys for the P1 Group, the Lenexa electrical contractors who did the work on the Joplin High School project, will depose the man the R-8 School District put in charge of its building projects, Mike Johnson, Friday, July 8, according to a notice filed in U. S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.

The videotaped deposition will take place one week after P1 gets its shot at former Superintendent C. J. Huff, who is scheduled to be deposed beginning 9 a.m. Thursday, June 30. Both depositions will take place in the law offices of Polsinelli PC, the high-powered firm that is representing the district in its lawsuit against P1.

The district brought its lawsuit, which accuses P1 of doing shoddy work, only after it realized that P1 was preparing a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the district, for not paying the money P1 says it is owed.

P1 filed a counterclaim, which says the district owes more than $6 million, primarily because of extra overtime and costs associated with Huff's unsuccessful effort to get the building opened on time in August 2014.

The P1 counterclaim is one of the lawsuits against the district which is covered by the $50,000 consulting fee Huff was paid as part of his separation agreement. It was made clear at the press conference that introcued Interim Superintendent Norm Ridder that the "consulting" would not have anything to do with Huff offering advice to Ridder, but was to cover the lawsuits that Huff attracted during the final years of his seven-year tenure.