Gwinnett Daily Post

LAWRENCEVILLE -- Even as some lawsuits over the county's garbage service are being settled, others are being filed.

Red Oak Sanitation, a company that serves about 3,500 customers, filed a suit against the county Monday, a few days after news of a settlement with other companies had been reached.

On Tuesday, commissioners approved the settlement, which divides the county among five companies which had filed suit in 2008 over an original plan to select one vendor for districts in the county.

This time, though, bids were not submitted, and other companies did not have an opportunity to get business, the lawsuit said.

Attorney Edwin Saginar, who successfully sued the county 20 years ago over a similar trash fiasco, said Red Oak owners were told they probably would have been denied a franchise in 2008 because the company had not dealt with a large contract.

"They have been put in a very difficult position," Saginar said.

An emergency hearing before Judge Michael Clark has been set for 2:15 p.m. April 12, 15 minutes after the judge is scheduled to consider the mediated settlement.

While the settlement would bring to an end three lawsuits and free the county from $80 million in claims, another lawsuit was filed earlier this year in federal court alleging the county would settle the case by denying other trash companies service in the county. That case is still pending.