Simplifi Denies Negligence Claims Over Allegedly Faulty Routers That Led to Flooding

Coppe Healthcare Solutions failed to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, said defendant Brightsky, parent company to Simplifi, in its answer (docket 2:24-cv-00088) and affirmative defenses to Coppe’s negligence complaint Monday in U.S. District Court for Eastern Wisconsin in Milwaukee.

Coppe, based in Waukesha, Wisconsin, sued Simplifi and AT&T in December over allegedly faulty Simplifi Connect II routers after the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system (SCADA) alert system in nearby Pewaukee, Wisconsin, failed, causing a sewer overflow that led to the flooding of Coppe’s lab with sewage in January 2023 (see 2401230035). AT&T removed the case from Circuit Court of Waukesha County to the U.S. District Court for Eastern Wisconsin in Milwaukee the following January.

Pewaukee bought Connect II routers from Simplify for its SCADA system in October 2022 and installed them the next month, the complaint said. The routers are certified for use on FirstNet, a Commerce Department public-private network for first responders operated by AT&T.

After three pumps failed at one Pewaukee station, leading to a “sewer overflow,” a review of the SCADA alarm notification software showed the system attempted to make alert calls to the city public works staff about the pump failures, but the phone line the SCADA system uses “was not providing a dial tone, preventing the alert call from going through,” the complaint said. Simplifi’s answer denies information sufficient to form a belief of matters asserted in the complaint, “and puts the plaintiff to its proof thereon.”

In its other affirmative defenses, Simplifi said Coppe may have failed to mitigate its damages, and its claims may be barred by the doctrine of waiver and estoppel, the doctrine of laches and the doctrine of accord and satisfaction. It denied negligence claims that it owed the city, businesses and property owners a duty of reasonable care to ensure that its routers could provide alerts to public works staff regarding any failures of the water and sewer utility systems.

Simplify also denied allegations that Pewaukee warned it of repeated failures of the Connect II routers and the FirstNet network in January 2023, that Simplifi "took no action to correct issues" and that Simplifi told city staff that the communication issues it was having were "a known issue."

Coppe claims its operations suffered a six-week disruption and three weeks of “partial disruption,” resulting in $81,408 of lost income. As a result of the disrupted operations, Coppe lost a client, had to cut its staff by 50%, and its net operating income fell by over $438,000 year on year from Jan. 1 to Nov. 16, the complaint said.

In its answer, Simplifi said Coppe’s alleged damages may have been caused in whole or in part by “acts or omissions by another.” Coppe's claims may also be barred by the applicable statute of limitations, it may have failed to include all necessary parties in the actions, and it may lack the standing to sue. The lawsuit should be dismissed on its merits, said the answer.