A company fired by San Francisco officials, after its workers were blamed for causing a series of gas leaks in a major infrastructure project several years ago, plans to appeal the decision to kick it off the job to the California Supreme Court.
Last week, a state appeals court ruled in favor of the city, which removed Synergy Project Management from a $13.7 million project in the city's Haight neighborhood in late 2015.
City officials blamed the firm's workers for repeatedly breaking natural gas lines, and said its crews were involved in several episodes that raised questions about its safety practices. That included one widely publicized incident in which workers dangled a foreman headfirst into a manhole as traffic moved nearby.
The project involved sewer replacement, water main installation and street repaving. San Francisco Public Works hired Ghilotti Bros. as the main contractor on the project and Ghilotti, in turn, hired Synergy as a subcontractor.
In October 2015 the city halted work on the job. Then, in a rare move, public works officials removed Synergy from the project.