A local archaeological firm that accuses Marana officials of sabotaging a contract and damaging its reputation has filed a lawsuit against the town.
The complaint, filed in Pima County Superior Court earlier this month, says town officials caused Aztlan Archaeology Inc. to lose a job and harmed the firm's reputation and ability to do business. The complaint seeks unspecified damages.
The town hasn't received a copy of the lawsuit or responded, Town Attorney Frank Cassidy said.
Earlier this year, Tucson-based Aztlan filed a claim with the town based on the same complaints and asked for $472,000 in damages. The town never responded.
The lawsuit comes a year after Aztlan was hired to remove ancient Hohokam burials from an area near Continental Ranch slated for development.
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The local firm surveyed the area, identifying and removing artifacts and burials.
Aztlan submitted a report to Su Benaron, the town's archaeologist, who determined that more work needed to be done.
The town barred Aztlan from doing more work on the site and joined with the developer to pay $35,000 to Desert Archaeology, another Tucson-based firm, to find out what work remained.
Desert Archaeology found 24 burials along with other artifacts. Based on Desert Archaeology's work, the town began filing a grievance against Aztlan with the Registry of Professional Archaeologists, according to an e-mail from Cassidy.
Ultimately, the developer agreed to cut ties with Aztlan and pay a third local archaeological firm, Tierra Right of Way Services, $245,100 to complete the work.
The developer isn't being named to protect the location of the site.
Tierra found and removed 114 burial sites and 250 other archaeological features, including pit houses and trash mounds, not including features already found by Desert Archaeology.
But Benaron's decision to bar Aztlan from the site was based on a preliminary report and it shouldn't have caused such a strong response, according to the lawsuit filed by Aztlan's Tucson-based attorney, Richard M. Martinez.
Aztlan's work met all the necessary standards and was even approved by the Tohono O'odham Nation, according to the lawsuit.
By barring Aztlan from the site, the town effectively forced the developer to hire another firm, interfering with Aztlan's contract, Martinez wrote in the lawsuit.
The firm also has accused Benaron of damaging the reputation of Aztlan and its president, Laurie V. Slawson.
Benaron has said that she only wanted the work to be done correctly and never carried out a personal vendetta against Aztlan or Slawson. No trial date has been set in the lawsuit.
The story so far
A developer plans to build condominiums on land near Continental Ranch. As part of preparations before construction, the town required archaeological work to remove ancient Hohokam burials and other artifacts from the land.
The developer originally hired Aztlan Archaeology, a Tucson firm, to remove the remains and artifacts. Aztlan completed its work, finding only a handful of burials and other artifacts. The work wasn't sufficient for Su Benaron, the town's archaeologist. She called for more work on the site.
The town and the developer agreed to hire Desert Archaeology, another Tucson firm, as an independent consultant and combined to pay it $35,000 to conduct a survey of the land. The purpose of the survey was to determine whether Benaron was correct in asking that more work be conducted on the site.
Desert Archaeology's survey found almost 100 artifacts, including two dozen burial sites and other archaeological features.
The town wouldn't allow the developer to move forward on the site until more burials were identified and removed. The developer offered to pay $245,100 to finish the archaeological work the town required. The developer hired Tierra Right of Way Services to complete the work.
Tierra completed its work this spring, finding more than 100 burials. In total, the site has nearly 135 burials and was possibly an extension of nearby villages that were previously discovered.
After losing the contract on the site, Aztlan on Jan. 18 filed a claim with the town for $472,000. The town never responded to the claim and, earlier this month, Aztlan filed a lawsuit.
