FACT SCENARIO C (Questions 9-12):

Geddy Construction (GC) has a written contract with Owner to furnish and erect a 10,000 sq.ft. metal building in Ripley, Oklahoma. The contract between GC and Owner requires all changes to be accomplished by written change order or written change directive and is governed by AIA Document A201-2017, which sets forth a detailed procedure for the submission of claims, mediation and arbitration. GC enters into an oral contract with Subterranean Construction (Sub) to perform sitework and to construct the building pad. After construction begins, Owner verbally directs GC to increase the size of the building to 15,000 sq.ft. Owner refuses to sign a written change order or to issue a written change directive. GC, in turn, verbally directs Sub to construct a larger building pad to accommodate the increased size of the metal building. To keep the project moving forward, GC and Sub perform the additional work despite Owner's failure to sign a written change order or issue a change directive. GC timely submits a claim to the Initial Decision Maker for the added cost. After the claim is denied, GC initiates the contractually-required mediation and arbitration processes. In the interim, Sub gets tired of waiting for payment and files a separate lawsuit against GC. The project is completed shortly thereafter without further incident and Owner accepts all of the work, despite refusing to pay for the extra cost associated with increasing the size of the building.

Question

Which of the following is the most likely outcome of Sub's separate lawsuit against GC:

Group of answer choices

a. Sub's lawsuit will be dismissed because it was required to first mediate and arbitrate with GC and Owner according to the flow down provisions between Sub and GC.

b. Sub's lawsuit will proceed to trial regardless of what happens in the mediation and arbitration between GC and Owner because there is no flow down between GC and Sub.

c. Sub's lawsuit will not be dismissed because it had an oral contract with GC and otherwise was not bound by the disputes procedures of the agreement between Owner and GC. However, because Sub's disputes with GC are related to the disputes between Owner and GC, it is possible that all three parties will end up mediating, arbitrating and/or litigating the entire dispute at the same time.

d. Sub's lawsuit will be dismissed because it did not have an agreement in writing with GC for any of the work.