Travelers Casualty & Surety Company of America; Bcc Construction, LLC D/b/a Boyd Corley Construction, LLC…

Summary

The court held that the subcontract's pay-if-paid provisions made the owner's payment to BCC an express condition precedent to BCC's obligation to pay SCI, and that the provision was not an affirmative defense requiring specific pleading. Because BCC was not liable under the subcontract, Travelers, whose lien-release-bond obligation was coextensive with BCC's, was also entitled to a directed verdict. The court reversed SCI's attorney-fee award and declined to reach BCC's fee argument because an independent ground for denying fees was not challenged. Justice Hart, dissenting and joined by Justice Baker, would have upheld the jury's award against Travelers based on the lien-release bond and the evidence of SCI's unpaid work.