A judge has confirmed an arbitrator’s award of nearly $750,000 in damages, attorneys’ fees and costs against a construction company that allegedly breached its contract to the Los Angeles Rams by failing to pay all rent due on a SoFi Stadium luxury suite.
On Thursday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Richard L. Fruin ordered Shangri-La Construction LP Ocean to pay the Rams $690,305, plus about $25,000 in attorneys’ fees and roughly $33,390 in costs. The company did not participate in the arbitration, according to the Rams’ lawyers’ court papers.
The Rams and Shangri-La signed a five-year agreement for a lease of the suite in April 2019, but the company defaulted in the third year, according to the Rams’ attorneys’ pleadings, which further stated that any disputes about the lease were to be referred to arbitration.
After providing Shangri-La with multiple opportunities to cure the default, the Rams initiated arbitration in August 2023, but the company refused to participate, the Rams’ attorneys’ court papers stated.
An arbitration panel found Shangri-La in breach and issued its final award in the Rams’ favor last October, but to date the company has made no additional payments, according to the team’s lawyers’ pleadings.