In Detroit paratransit lawsuit, provider cites breach of contract

DETROIT — A company providing services specializing in transit for disabled riders is suing the city over what company representatives consider to be a breach of contract.

Veolia Transportation, which owns and operates Metro Lift, a paratransit service in Detroit, halted all service and filed a lawsuit against the city last month claiming the city broke the terms of their contract.

Because the issue is in litigation, Veolia spokeswoman Valerie Michael told Michigan Messenger she couldn’t talk details, but gave an overview of the situation. “I can tell you that we have filed a suit against the city,” she said.

According to Michael, the Detroit Department of Transportation has not paid Veolia for nearly a year and owes the company a total of $5.4 million. But that’s not the only issue. “The money is an important part. We virtually went all year without a payment,” she said. “But going forward if we can’t resolve the other issues we’re not getting anywhere, even with payment.”

The “other issues,” Michaels explained, involve specific terms of the contract agreement. One of the ways Michael said the city broke the contract is that it started hiring multiple outside contractors even though the contract with Veolia was exclusive. DDOT also subcontracted control of the Metro Lift call center, which according to Michael is also a breach of contract. She said the city contracted work to other companies before the Veolia halted services altogether in November.

Veolia filed the lawsuit after city officials refused to negotiate an agreement to keep the contract intact. “We haven’t been able to negotiate that with [DDOT]. We haven’t even had a discussion with them regarding payment,” Michael said. She said she did not know why the city opted to hire outside companies. “There are remedies within that contract if they are unhappy with the service. We’ve never received a complaint.”

Although Michael said the city has been difficult to work with, she’s hesitant to blame the leadership. “I think that it would be unfair to put this onto the mayor. I think there is a breakdown in the process itself,” she said.

Mayor Dave Bing‘s communications director, Dan Lijana, declined to comment on the issue because it is pending litigation.

The para-transit issue has caught the attention of multiple advocacy groups for the disabled, including The Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan, The ARC Detroit and members of the local Warriors on Wheels Network. Disabled riders and their advocates are concerned about the safety of Detroit riders under the new service providers.

While the issue is being resolved, 125 specialized paratransit workers who operated Metro Lift vehicles are on standby, waiting for the issue to be resolved. There is a chance Veolia could continue to provide paratransit services, but nothing is certain at this time. “The [125 Metro Lift employees] are still on payroll,” Michael said, noting that the company promised to keep a paycheck coming as long as possible while the issue is being resolved. “We’re waiting as long as we can.”