CAUSE NO.

__________

LIJO ABRAHAM and NIJI THOMAS, § IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF

et. al. §
§
Plaintiffs, §
§
v. § HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS
§
COSTELLO, INC., §
Defendant. § _______ JUDICIAL DISTRICT

PLAINTIFFS’ ORIGINAL PETITION AND REQUEST FOR DISCLOSURE

TO THE HONORABLE JUDGE OF SAID COURT:

COME NOW, the Plaintiffs, Lijo Abraham and Niji Thomas, Reginald Denny Adelung

and Louisa Adelung, Adewumi and Oluwatoyin Adeniyi, Modupe and Olugbenga Adesuyi,

Krishna Adluru and Subha Dommaraju, Zamal and Tumy Ahmed, Venkatapavan Allapureddy

and Tanmaya Reddy Nallagatla, Vincent Allen and Dominique Allen, Chadrasekaran Arunagiri,

Mihir and Rujuta Arya, Eframe Asrat, Timothy and Abiola Atobatele, Ronald and Doris Bacon,

Nam Baek, Chayan and Shivapriya Basak, Chris Junguo Bain and Bin Guo, Melissa and Todd

Blackford, Sampath Kumar Bommareddy, David and Lisa Butler, Noemi Candal, Jayachandra

and Madhavi Chamarthi, Jijo George Charalil and Bindu Jijo Charalil, Hua Chen and Qian

Zhang, Jinyun and Ping Chen, Aileen Hung-Ti Chiang and David Ka Lin, George and Phiny

Chirayil, Thomas Cholamattam and Jainsamma Thomas, Rajat and Gifty Chopra, Kesava

Chunduri and Naga Swetha Eedala, Mitchell and Paula Clayman, Guangyu Cui , Sada Cumber

and Mumtaz Cumber, Zhiyuan Dai, Mitul Dalal and Sejal Gandhi, Mini P. Johns and Johns

Daniel, Thomas Daniel and Jainy Daniel, Ratna and Anthony Daum, Justin Denni, Moreshwar

and Aparna Desai, Sanjeewan Deshpande, Karthik Mainampath and Vanaja Devarapalli,

Sumanth Donthi and Haritha Goli, Ramadevi Duraisamy and Dinesh Shetty, Joshua and Windy

1
Edlin, Frederico Epstein and Daniele Pelizan, Vineeth and Josni Eranical, Jianqiu Fang and Ke

Sun, Liang Feng and Chun Yan Yang, Stephen Fung and Suzanne Gamble Fung, Yuan Lin Gao,

Jorge Garcia and Patricia Garcia, Christopher Gardner and Kate Moran, Tina and Shiju George,

Herman Gin and Nancy Tjiawi, Derek and Leslie Gosnay, Morris and Jill Gould, Ravikishan

Guddeti and Sireesha Yedururi, Ranjan Gupta and Dian Gupta, Varun and Rashmi Gupta, Zhijun

Zhang and Xu Han, Thavnuth Hanna, Jemmy Hao and Jennifer Hao, Hugh and Andrea Harrow,

Shahjabeen Hashim, Qun He and Xu Wang, Prashanth and Shilpa Hejmadi, Karl Herbst and

Mary Katherine Herbst, John and Catherine Higgins, Richard Hoang, Jing Hong and Yu Yan,

Xiaobo Hong and Jai Li, Wendi Hsu, Hong Huang and Jiahe Shen, Ling Huang, Kennedy

Imaralu and Oluwadamilola Siyanbola, Julie Ingram, Felix Jacob and Rejeela Kanjirakkattu,

Jisha Jacob and Anoob Jacob, Joshy Jacob and Sini Jacob, John Jacobson and Suzie Jacobson,

Rajat and Runjhun Jain, Julia James-Joseph and Jimmy Joseph, Srinivasa Chakravarthy Janga,

Mary Jettom, Gregory and Indria Jenkins, Guangyi Jiang and Richard Ma, Nan Jiang and

Zhiqiang Chen, Ashraf Jiwani and Ahmed Jiwani, Bincy Joseph and Biju Mathew, Sigy Joseph

and Praveen Joseph, Julius Eric Junker and Amanda Junker, Sheel Nidhi Kakkar and Prajna Rao,

Chilobe and Megan Kalambo, Veerabhadra Rao Kankatala and Sailaja Grandhi, Sunil

Kannanganat Sidharthan and Meena Sunil, Manoj Kanneri and Sony Sam Jacob, Vikas

Wedkumar Kapoor and Yashika Bajaj, Amar Karoshi, Jawad and Tahmina Kawaja, Kapil Kedia

and Varkha Suresh Agrawal, Nurdin Shamsuddin Khimani and Goolshan Nurdin Khimani,

Ramakrishna Koomagani and Lakshmi Pamarthi, Timmy Kovoor, Dominic Vivek Shantha

Kumar and Amelia David, Saumya Babu and Oommen Kunnath, Connie Lai, Weiming Lan,

Zhenjiang Lan, Fabricio Arteaga Larios, Wilfred and Kerry Lau, Robert and Jennifer Lee, Hugo

and Suzanne Danis Leon, Ang Li, Tieyin Li, Wei Li and Yunyan Zhang, Jian Lin, Lian Bao Lin

2
and Fang Ling Shi, Richard and Judy Lin, Xiaomin Lin and Yi Zheng, Shu Liu and Gusui

Zhang, Xue Jing Liu and Jun Wang, Siva Madduri, Anish Maredia and Sharmin Momin, Ashok

and Neena Marwah, Anirudha and Pooja Marwaha, Megha Joy and Mithun Mathews,

Paramahamsa Maturu and Pushpalatha Karnewar, Fei Meng and Shi Long Li, Srinivas Mett,

Sandip Mody, Phani and Amulya Mogalapu, Assaad Mohanna and Nansi Awada, Nasrullah and

Karim Momin, Alejandro Montoya, Anand Mudunuru and Sheetal Kohli, Saravanan

Muthuswamy, Abby and Sini Myalil, Abbas Naqui and Beenish Naqui, Pavan Naraparaju and

Sailaja Koti, Gurumurthi Natesh and Rajeshwari Natesh, Craig Neal and Deborah Neal, Praveen

and Roopa Neogi, Phuiyee Ng, Amy Ngo, Jose Nisha, Cassandra Noien, Xuecheng Ouyang and

Wang Tingting, Zhenwen Pan and Jimin Wu, Dyan Parada and Neil Dorfman, Gary Paradise and

Patricia Paradise, Pravin Thakkar and Jaykumar Parekh, Tejal Parmar, Chetan Patel and Ashley

Cornner-Patel, Mukesh Patel, Richard Patton and Cara Patton, Miguel Angel Sanchez Perez,

John and Brigitte Peters, Thomas Philip and Reenu Thomas, Kumar Pichumani and Bhanumatri

Gopal, Benny Poulose and Celina Poulose, Aminmohmed Prasla and Erum Prasla, Ramiz Prasla,

Balachandra Prathi and Jhansi Valmiki, Jijo Puthenpurayil and Laila Puthenpurayil, Sajith Rai

and Sandhya Rai, Febin Raju and Solly Joseph, Swaminathan Ramakrishnan, Malini Rammohan

and Ram Kuma Ramakrishnan, Bharadhan Gomany Rani, Suresh Rao and Pushpa Rao, Raghu

Reddy and Deepa Reddy, Jayarami Reganti and Surekha Reddy, Gracy Renjit and Renjit George,

Amar Gowda, Irfan Sabir and Atiqua Irfan, Gautam Sachdev and Kavita Sachdev, Farzad Safavi

and Maryam Salehi, Kanchan Saha, Sankaran Thankappan and Kamalakshi Thankappan, Kas

Saranathan and Nirmala Saranathan, Seenivasan Venkatachalam, Raghvendra Sengar and

Archana Nigam, Chetan Shah and Shivani Shah, Shodhan Shah, Vinsha Shah and Kaushal

Brahmbhatt, Alex Shi and Ying Lou, Lin Shi, Amit Singh, Manjit Singh and Dilawar Singh,

3
Amal Singh and Ipsita Bose, Brijnaresh Sinha and Judith Sinha, John Sleeba and Saru Sleeba,

Jair Soares and Giovana Zunta-Soares, Aaron Soudelier and Kelly Soudelier, David Springston

and Christina Shyu, Suresh Srinivas, Parthasarathy Srinivasa, Karthlkeyan Subramanian, Sujith

Subramanian and Rekha Sekharan, Yong Jun Sun, Zhihua Sun and Ying Zhang, Divyang Surati,

Thang Ta and Nga Wu, Kin Tam and Janice Tam, Poyang Tang and Cynthia Tang, Sumelda Teh

and Han Wai Lim, Sandra Texidor, Avani Ketan Thakkar, Milan Thakkar and Pinki Thakkar,

Somasekhar Thatipamula and Swampna Billa, Bobby Thomas, Ranty Thomas, Sebastian

Thomas, Brett Thompson and Sarah Wiseman, Venu Madhav Thota, Ashutosh Tiwari and

Chesta Dwivedi, Ashish Trivedi, Mustafa Unwala and Marjan Unwala, Merlin Varghese and

Liju Varghese, Suraj Varma and Archana Varma, Anil Vashi and Bhavna Vashi, Gina Vega-

Riveros, Srikanth Venugopalan, Valentina Villarroel, Arif Wakani and Sarah Artani, Jizhe Wang

and Tao Feng, Liqiang Wang, Minshen Wang, Wen-chou Wang and Wendy Ho Wang, Sterling

Wei and I. Szu Chen, Xiaotong Wei and Hang Yin, Gary Wilson and Ashley Wilson, Stephen

Wood and Kyra Wood, Huang Wu and Wenzhoo Yang, Jun Wu, Leo Yan Xia, Geng Xin and

Sophie Lee, Zhen Xiang, Shuchuan Yang and Chiajen Chang, Tiffany Yeh, Chikmagalur

Yogananda and Shanti Yogananda, Benny Yohannan, Yu You, Daniel Young and Shelley Miao,

Gan Yu, Xiang Zhai, Zhenyu Zhang, Zhuangzhi Zhang, Grace Zhao and Jonathan Cheng,

Haoyang Zhao and Jieqiong Lin, Lina Zhou, Qi Zhu and Ying Qiao, Wentao Zhu, Jun Zou and

Xiaohai Huang, Xiran Zou, (hereinafter referred to collectively as “Plaintiffs”) and file this

Original Petition against Defendant, Costello, Inc., and would respectfully show as follows:

4
 I.
DISCOVERY CONTROL PLAN

1. Pursuant to Rule 190.1 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure (the “Rules”),

Plaintiffs respectfully request that discovery in this case be conducted under Level 3 by further

order of this Court, as set forth in Rule 190.4.

II.
REQUEST FOR DISCLOSURE

2. Pursuant to Rule 194, Defendant is requested to disclose all information as

provided by Rule 194.2 within fifty (50) days of being served with a copy of this request and this

Original Petition. Plaintiffs specifically request the responding parties to produce responsive

documents at the undersigned law offices within fifty (50) days of service of this request.

III.
CERTIFICATE OF MERIT

3. The declarations of Thomas Lee King and Larry W. Mays, licensed professional

engineers, attached hereto as Exhibit A and incorporated herein by reference, establish at least

one act of negligence by Costello, Inc., and complies with Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code

§150.001 et. seq.

IV.
PARTIES

4. Aaron Soudelier and Kelly Soudelier are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

5. Abbas Naqui and Beenish Naqui are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

6. Abby and Sini Myalil are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

7. Adewumi Adeniyi and Oluwatoyin Adeniyi are individuals who reside in Fort Bend

County, Texas.

5
8. Aileen Hung-Ti Chiang and David Ka Lin are individuals who reside in Fort Bend

County, Texas.

9. Alejandro Montoya is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

10. Alex Shi and Ying Lou are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

11. Amal Singh and Ipsita Bose are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

12. Amar Gowda is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

13. Amar Karoshi is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

14. Aminmohmed Prasla and Erum Prasla are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

15. Amit Singh is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

16. Amy Ngo is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

17. Anand Mudunuru and Sheetal Kohli are individuals who resids in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

18. Ang Li is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

19. Anil Vashi and Bhavna Vashi are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

20. Anirudha and Pooja Marwaha are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

21. Anish Maredia and Sharmin Momin are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

22. Arif Wakani and Sarah Artani are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

23. Ashish Trivedi is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

24. Ashok Marwah and Neena Marwah are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

25. Ashraf Jiwani and Ahmed Jiwani are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

6
26. Ashutosh Tiwari and Chesta Dwivedi are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

27. Assaad Mohanna and Nansi Awada are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

28. Avani Ketan Thakkar is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

29. Balachandra Prathi and Jhansi Valmiki are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

30. Benny Poulose and Celina Benny are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

31. Benny Yohannan is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

32. Bharadhan Gomany Rani is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

33. Bincy Joseph and Biju Mathew are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

34. Bobby Thomas is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

35. Brett Thompson and Sarah Wiseman are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

36. Brijnaresh and Judith Sinha are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

37. Cassandra Noien is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

38. Chadrasekaran Arunagiri is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

39. Chayan Basak and Shivapriya Basak are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

40. Chetan Patel and Ashley Cornner-Patel are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

41. Chetan Shah and Shivani Shah are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

7
42. Chikmagalur Yogananda and Shanti Yogananda are individuals who reside in Fort Bend

County, Texas.

43. Chilobe Kalambo and Megan Kalambo are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

44. Chris Junguo Bain and Bin Guo are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

45. Christopher Gardner and Kate Moran are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

46. Connie Lai is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

47. Craig Neal and Deborah Neal are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

48. Daniel Young and Shelley Miao are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

49. David Butler and Lisa Butler are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

50. David Springston and Christina Shyu are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

51. Derek Gosnay and Leslie Gosnay are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

52. Dhinesh Guhan is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

53. Divyang Surati is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

54. Dominic Vivek Shantha Kumar and Amelia David are individuals who reside in Fort

Bend County, Texas.

55. Dyan Parada and Neil Dorfman are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

56. Eframe Asrat is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

57. Fabricio Arteaga Larios is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

58. Farzad Safavi and Maryam Salehi are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

8
59. Febin Raju and Solly Joseph are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

60. Fei Meng and Shi Long Li are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

61. Felix Jacob and Rejeela Kanjirakkattu are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

62. Frederico Epstein and Daniele Pelizan are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

63. Gan Yu is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

64. Gary Paradise and Patricia Paradise are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

65. Gary Wilson and Ashley Wilson are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

66. Gautam Sachdev and Kavita Sachdev are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

67. Geng Xin and Sophie Lee are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

68. George Chirayil and Phiny Chirayil are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

69. Gina Vega-Riveros is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

70. Grace Zhao and Jonathan Cheng are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

71. Gracy Renjit and Renjit George are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

72. Gregory and Indria Jenkins are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

73. Guangyi Jiang and Richard Ma are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

74. Guangyu Cui is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

75. Gurumurthi Natesh and Rajeshwari Natesh are individuals who reside in Fort Bend

County, Texas.

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76. Haoyang Zhao and Jieqiong Lin are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

77. Herman Gin and Nancy Tjiawi are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

78. Hong Huang and Jiahe Shen are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

79. Hua Chen and Qian Zhang are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

80. Huang Wu and Wenzhoo Yang are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

81. Hugh and Andrea Harrow are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

82. Hugo and Suzanne Danis Leon are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

83. Irfan Sabir and Atiqua Irfan are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

84. Jair Soares and Giovana Zunta-Soares are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

85. Jawad Kawaja and Tahmina Kawaja are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

86. Jayachandra Chamarthi and Madhavi Chamarthi are individuals who reside in Fort Bend

County, Texas.

87. Jayarami Reganti and Surekha Reddy are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

88. Jemmy Hao and Jennifer Hao are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

89. Jian Lin is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

90. Jianan Tao is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

91. Jianqiu Fang and Ke Sun are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

92. Jijo George Charalil and Bindu Jijo Charalil are individuals who reside in Fort Bend

County, Texas.

93. Jijo Jose and Laila Puthenpurayil are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

10
94. Jing Hong and Yu Yan are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

95. Jinyun and Ping Chen are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

96. Jisha Jacob and Anoob Jacob are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

97. Jizhe Wang and Tao Feng are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

98. John and Catherine Higgins are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

99. John Jacobson and Suzie Jacobson are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

100. John Peters and Brigitte Peters are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

101. John Sleeba and Saru Sleeba are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

102. Jorge Garcia and Patricia Garcia are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

103. Jose Nisha is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

104. Joshua Edlin and Windy Edlin are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

105. Joshy Jacob and Sini Jacob are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

106. Julia James-Joseph and Jimmy Joseph are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

107. Julie Ingram is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

108. Julius Eric Junker and Amanda Junker are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

109. Jun Wu is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

110. Jun Zou and Xiaohai Huang are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

111. Justin Dennis is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

112. Kanchan Kumar Saha is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

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113. Kapil Kedia and Varkha Suresh Agrawal are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

114. Karl Herbst and Mary Katherine Herbst are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

115. Karthik Mainampath and Vanaja Devarapalli are individuals who reside in Fort Bend

County, Texas.

116. Karthlkeyan Subramanian is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

117. Kas and Nirmala Saranathan are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

118. Kennedy Imaralu and Oluwadamilola Siyanbola are individuals who reside in Fort Bend

County, Texas.

119. Kesava Chunduri and Naga Swetha Eedala are individuals who reside in Fort Bend

County, Texas.

120. Kin and Janice Tam are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

121. Kiran Kumar Seelam is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

122. Krishna Adluru and Subha Dommaraju are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

123. Kumar Pichumani and Bhanumatri Gopal are individuals who reside in Fort Bend

County, Texas.

124. Leo Yan Xia is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

125. Lian Bao Lin and Fang Ling Shi are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

126. Liang Feng and Chun Yan Yang are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

127. Lijo Abraham and Niji Thomas are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

128. Lin Shi is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

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129. Lina Zhou is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

130. Ling Huang is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

131. Liqiang Wang is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

132. Malini Rammohan and Ram Kuma Ramakrishnan are individuals who reside in Fort

Bend County, Texas

133. Manjit Singh and Dilawar Singh are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

134. Manoj Kanneri and Sony Sam Jacob are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

135. Mary Jettom is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

136. Megha Joy and Mithun Mathews are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

137. Melissa and Todd Blackford are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

138. Merlin Varghese and Liju Varghese are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

139. Miguel Angel Sanchez Perez is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

140. Mihir Arya and Rujuta Arya are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

141. Milan and Pinki Thakkar are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

142. Mini P. Johns and Johns Daniel are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

143. Minshen Wang is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

144. Mitchell and Paula Clayman are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

145. Mitul Dalal and Sejal Gandhi are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

146. Modupe Adesuyi and Olugbenga Adesuyi are individuals who reside in Fort Bend

County, Texas.

147. Moreshwar and Aparna Desai are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

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148. Morris Gould and Jill Gould are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

149. Mukesh Patel is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

150. Mustafa Unwala and Marjan Unwala are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

151. Nam Baek is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

152. Nan Jiang and Zhiqiang Chen are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

153. Nasrullah and Karim Momin are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

154. Noemi Candal is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

155. Nurdin Shamsuddin Khimani and Goolshan Nurdin Khimani are individuals who reside

in Fort Bend County, Texas.

156. Paramahamsa Maturu and Pushpalatha Karnewar are individuals who reside in Fort Bend

County, Texas.

157. Parthasarathy Srinivasa is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

158. Pavan Naraparaju and Sailaja Koti are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

159. Phani and Amulya Mogalapu are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

160. Phuiyee Ng is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

161. Poyang and Cynthia Tang are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

162. Prasad Duvvuri and Lata Rangabhatia are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

163. Prashanth and Shilpa Hejmadi are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

164. Praveen Neogi and Roopa Neogi are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

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165. Pravin Thakkar and Jaykumar Parekh are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

166. Qi Zhu and Ying Qiao are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

167. Qun He and Xu Wang are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

168. Raghu Reddy Deepa Reddy are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

169. Raghvendra Sengar and Archana Nigam are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

170. Rajat and Runjhun Jain are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

171. Rajat Chopra and Gifty Chopra are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

172. Ramadevi Duraisamy and Dinesh Shetty are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

173. Ramakrishna Koomagani and Lakshmi Pamarthi are individuals who reside in Fort Bend

County, Texas.

174. Ramiz Prasla is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

175. Ranjan Gupta and Dian Gupta are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

176. Ranty Thomas is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

177. Ratna and Anthony Daum are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

178. Ravikishan Guddeti and Sireesha Yedururi are individuals who reside in Fort Bend

County, Texas.

179. Reginald Denny Adelung and Louisa Adelung are individuals who reside in Fort Bend

County, Texas.

180. Richard Hoang is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

181. Richard Lin and Judy Luan Lin are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

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182. Richard Patton and Cara Patton are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

183. Robert Lee and Jennifer Lee are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

184. Ronald Bacon and Doris Bacon are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

185. Sada Cumber and Mumtaz Cumber are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

186. Sajith Rai and Sandhya Rai are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

187. Sampath Kumar Bommareddy is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

188. Sandip Mody is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

189. Sandra Texidor is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

190. Sanjeewan Deshpande is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

191. Sankaran Thankappan and Kamalakshi Thankappan are individuals who reside in Fort

Bend County, Texas.

192. Saravanan Muthuswamy is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

193. Saumya Babu and Oommen Kunnath are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

194. Sebastian Thomas is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas

195. Seenivasan Venkatachalam is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

196. Shahjabeen Hashim is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

197. Sheel Nidhi Kakkar and Prajna Rao are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

198. Shodhan Shah is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

199. Shu Liu and Gusui Zhang are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

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200. Shuchuan Yang and Chiajen Chang are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

201. Sigy Joseph and Praveen Joseph are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

202. Siva Madduri is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

203. Somasekhar Thatipamula and Swampna Billa are individuals who reside in Fort Bend

County, Texas.

204. Srikanth Venugopalan is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

205. Srinivas Mettu is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

206. Srinivasa Chakravarthy Janga is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

207. Stephen Fung and Suzanne Gamble Fung are individuals who reside in Fort Bend

County, Texas.

208. Stephen Wood and Kyra Wood are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

209. Sterling Wei and I. Szu Chen are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

210. Sujith Subramanian and Rekha Sekharan are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

211. Sumanth Donthi and Haritha Goli are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

212. Sumelda Teh and Han Wai Lim are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

213. Sunil Kannanganat Sidharthan and Meena Sunil are individuals who reside in Fort Bend

County, Texas.

214. Suraj Varma and Archana Varma are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

215. Suresh Rao and Pushpa Rao are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas

216. Suresh Srinivas is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

217. Swaminathan Ramakrishnan is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

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218. Tejal Parmar is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

219. Thang Ta and Nga Wu are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

220. Thavnuth Hanna is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

221. Thomas Cholamattam and Jainsamma Thomas are individuals who reside in Fort Bend

County, Texas.

222. Thomas Daniel and Jainy Daniel are individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

223. Thomas Philip and Reenu Thomas are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

224. Tieyin Li is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

225. Tiffany Yeh is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

226. Timmy Kovoor is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

227. Timothy Atobatele and Abiola Atobatele are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

228. Tina and Shiju George are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

229. Valentina Villarroel is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

230. Varun and Rashmi Gupta are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

231. Veerabhadra Rao Kankatala and Sailaja Grandhi are individuals who reside in Fort Bend

County, Texas.

232. Venkatapavan Allapureddy and Tanmaya Reddy Nallagatla are individuals who reside in

Fort Bend County, Texas.

233. Venu Madhav Thota is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

234. Vikas Wedkumar Kapoor and Yashika Bajaj are individuals who reside in Fort Bend

County, Texas.

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235. Vincent Allen and Dominique Allen are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

236. Vineeth Eranical and Josni Eranical are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

237. Vinsha Shah and Kaushal Brahmbhatt are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

238. Wei Li and Yunyan Zhang are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

239. Weiming Lan is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

240. Wen-chou Wang and Wendy Ho Wang are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

241. Wendi Hsu is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

242. Wentao Zhu is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

243. Wilfred Lau and Kerry Lau are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

244. Xiang Zhai is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

245. Xiaobo Hong and Jai Li are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

246. Xiaomin Lin and Yi Zheng are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

247. Xiaotong Wei and Hang Yin are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

248. Xiran Zou is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

249. Xue Jing Liu and Jun Wang are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

250. Xuecheng Ouyang and Wang Tingting are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County,

Texas.

251. Yang Rong is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

252. Yong Jun Sun is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

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253. Yu You is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

254. Yuan Lin Gao is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

255. Zamal Ahmed and Tumy Ahmed are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

256. Zhen Xiang is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

257. Zhenjiang Lan is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

258. Zhenwen Pan and Jimin Wu are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

259. Zhenyu Zhang is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

260. Zhihua Sun and Ying Zhang are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

261. Zhijun Zhang and Xu Han are individuals who reside in Fort Bend County, Texas.

262. Zhiyuan Dai is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

263. Zhuangzhi Zhang is an individual who resides in Fort Bend County, Texas.

264. Riverstone Plaintiffs can be served by and through the underlined counsel of record.

265. Defendant Costello, Inc. is a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Texas

with a principal office in Harris County, Texas, who may be served through its registered

agent, Dekecha P. Shepherd, 9990 Richmond Avenue Suite 450 Houston, Texas 77042.

Plaintiffs request issuance of citation to Costello, Inc.

V.
JURIDICTION AND VENUE

266. The subject matter in controversy is within the jurisdictional limits of this court.

Plaintiffs seek monetary relief over $1,000,000.

267. Venue is proper in Harris County under Section 15.0002(a)(3) of the Texas Civil

Practice and Remedies Code because Defendant Costello, Inc. is a corporation that maintains its

principal office in Harris County, Texas.

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 VI.
FACTS

A. Defendant Costello Designed the Stormwater Management System for

Plaintiffs’ Neighborhood.

268. Plaintiffs reside in Sweetbriar, Millwood, The Orchard, Lost Creek and Shadow

Glen (hereinafter, “the neighborhoods”) within the Riverstone Development.

269. In Fort Bend County, Levee Improvement Districts (“LIDs”) are formed to

remove land within the LID from the flood plane.

270. The neighborhoods are within Levee Improvement District 19 (or “LID 19) which

was created in 2007.

271. Other neighborhoods in the Riverstone Development are within LID 15 which

was created in 2001.

272. Defendant Costello was responsible for the engineering and design of the

stormwater management systems for both LID 19 and LID 15 which included, among other

things, pumping stations, channels, retention basins, and levees for each LID.

273. Defendant Costello designed the LIDs to achieve two goals: (1) keep water out of

the LID from the Brazos River and (2) evacuate rainwater from the LID.

274. Costello designed LID 15 and LID 19 to ostensibly handle the same amount of

rainfall and/or flooding of the Brazos River.

B. Rain Amounts During Hurricane Harvey in and around the Riverstone

Development were Not Unprecedented

275. In the 100 years proceeding Hurricane Harvey, several storms delivered more rain

to parts of the Texas Gulf Coast than that of Hurricane Harvey.

276. Between June 5 and June 11, 2001, Hurricane Allison delivered 36.99 inches of

rain.

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 277. Between August 1 and August 4, 1979, Hurricane Amelia delivered

approximately 46 inches of rain.

278. Between July 24 and July 27, 1979, Hurricane Claudette delivered 45 inches of

rain.

279. During Hurricane Harvey, the Riverstone Development, including LIDs 15 and

19, received approximately 34.1 inches of rain.

280. The 24-hour rainfall amounts during Hurricane Harvey were also not

unprecedented. Several recorded storms had 24-hour rainfall totals of 24.1 inches, 38.2 inches,

33.6 inches, 26 inches, and 15.9 inches. The largest 24-hour rainfall total during Hurricane

Harvey was a little over 16 inches.

281. The rainfall in and around the Riverstone Development during Hurricane Harvey

was not an unknowable or unforeseen Act of God. Instead, it was an event that given the history

of rainfall in the Texas Gulf Coast, was a foreseeable event.

C. The Neighborhoods Suffered Extensive Inundation from Rainwater During

Hurricane Harvey While LID 15 Suffered No Rainwater Inundation

282. During Hurricane Harvey, several feet of water filled the streets and homes of the

residents of LID 19.

283. Residents of LID 15 did not experience such catastrophic flooding.

284. This is true even where LID 19 was ostensibly designed to the same standards as

LID 15.

D. Defendant Costello’s Design of the LID 19 Stormwater Management System

Led to Flooding in LID 19

285. As detailed in the Certificate of Merit attached hereto as Exhibit A, Defendant

Costello made numerous errors when designing the stormwater management system of LID 19.

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 286. The stormwater management system was not designed to handle rainfall amounts

that should have been reasonably anticipated.

287. Defendant Costello failed to account for rainwater that would drain from LID 15

into LID 19 after a levee was removed along Hagerson road.

288. As a result of Defendant Costello’s acts and omissions, Plaintiffs and their

children have been displaced from their homes and have many months and years of costly repairs

and rebuilding to come.

VII.
CAUSES OF ACTION

First Cause of Action - Negligence

289. Defendant owed duties of care to Plaintiffs. Defendant breached its duties and

were negligent in one or more of the following ways:

a. Failing to use ordinary care in obstructing and diverting the natural flow of

water in a manner that caused damage to Plaintiffs’ properties;

b. Failing to use ordinary care in the study, survey, modeling, and analysis of

the pump, levee, and drainage systems;

c. Failing to use ordinary care in removal of existing pump, levee, and

drainage systems;

d. Failing to use ordinary care in the operation, design, and maintenance of

its pump, levee, and drainage systems;

e. Failing to use ordinary care in the analysis, design, and engineering of the

levee improvement district;

f. Failing to use ordinary care in the analysis, design, and engineering of the

subdivision;

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 g. Failing to use ordinary care in the analysis, design, and engineering of

storm water managements systems;

h. Failing to use ordinary care in developing rules, plans, policies, and

procedures to protect against foreseeable risks of harm;

i. Failing to adequately warn or disclose the risk of flooding to Plaintiffs;

j. Negligently diverting water to Plaintiffs’ properties; and

k. Other acts deemed negligent or grossly negligent.

290. Defendant’s acts and omissions were a proximate cause of Plaintiffs’ injuries and

damages.

291. Plaintiffs are not making any construction defect claims subject to the Texas

Residential Construction Liability Act.

Second Cause of Action – Negligence Per Se

292. Defendant has violated certain statutes by diverting and impounding the natural

flow of water, without legal excuse, authorization, or permit, in a manner that caused water

overflow and damaged Plaintiffs’ property.

293. Defendant violated Section 11.081 which provides that “[n]o person may willfully

take, divert, or appropriate any state water for any purpose without first complying with all

applicable requirements of this chapter.”

294. Defendant violated Section 11.086 of the Texas Water Code which provides that

“[n]o person may divert or impound the natural flow of surface waters in this state, or permit a

diversion or impounding by him to continue, in a manner that damages the property of another

by the overflow of the water diverted or impounded.

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 295. The Texas Water Code is a statute designed to prevent harm to property owners

and occupiers including Plaintiffs. Plaintiffs were harmed because of Defendant’s unexcused

violations of the statute. Plaintiffs belong to the class of persons the Texas Water Code was

designed to protect, and Plaintiffs’ injuries and such damages are of the type that the Texas

Water Code was designed to prevent.

296. Defendant’s violations were a proximate cause of Plaintiffs’ injuries and

damages.

Third Cause of Action – Nuisance

297. Defendant interfered with Plaintiffs’ interests in the private use and enjoyment of

their property when they intentionally and negligently diverted and impounded water in a

manner that caused overflow and flooded Plaintiffs’ properties.

298. Defendant’s interference was a proximate cause of Plaintiffs’ injuries and

damages.

Fourth Cause of Action – Gross Negligence

299. Defendant’s conduct, when viewed from the standpoint of the actors at the time of

the occurrence, involved an extreme degree of risk, considering the probability and magnitude of

the potential harm to others. Furthermore, Defendant’s conduct illustrates not only an attitude of

conscious indifferences for the rights, safety and welfare of others, but also shows Defendant’s

actual and subjective awareness of the dangers of such conduct.

300. Nevertheless, Defendant proceeded with a conscious indifference to the rights,

safety or welfare of others, including Plaintiffs. Therefore, Defendant is liable to Plaintiffs for

exemplary damages.

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 VIII.
RESPONDEAT SUPERIOR

301. Defendant is liable for the torts committed by their employees during the course

and scope of their employment. Specifically, Defendant’s employees, acting within the course

and scope of their employment and in furtherance of Defendant’s business, had a general duty to

exercise reasonable care in performing their work. Defendant’s employees, however, failed to

exercise the requisite standard of care under the circumstances. As a result, Defendant is liable

for the injuries suffered by Plaintiffs.

IX.
DAMAGES

302. By virtue of the foregoing conduct, Plaintiffs have suffered damages. These

damages consist of, inter alia, the following:

a. Cost of repairs to real property, and cost of replacement or fair market

value of personal property lost, or destroyed during the flood in question;

b. Diminution in market value of Plaintiff’s property;

c. Mental anguish and/or emotional distress;

d. Loss of income and business income; and

e. Consequential costs incurred, including loss of use and lost wages.

X.
DEMAND FOR JURY

303. Plaintiffs demand a trial by jury on all claims and have paid the applicable fee.

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 XI.
PRAYER

WHEREFORE, Plaintiffs pray that Defendant be cited to appear herein and, after a trial

on the merits, that the Court enter judgment awarding Plaintiff their actual damages and

additional damages as allowed by law, exemplary damages, costs of court, pre-judgment and

post-judgment interest to the maximum extent as allowed by law, and all such other and further

relief, both general and special, at equity and at law, to which Plaintiff may be justly entitled.

Respectfully submitted,

ABRAHAM, WATKINS, NICHOLS,

SORRELS, AGOSTO & AZIZ

By: /s/ Muhammad S. Aziz

Muhammad S. Aziz
State Bar No. 24043538
[email protected]
800 Commerce
Houston, Texas 77002
(713) 222-7211 Main
(713) 225-0827 Facsimile
(800) 870-9584 Toll Free

SIMPSON & SIMPSON

Michael A. Simpson
State Bar No. 18403650
[email protected]
Kim N. Jones
State Bar No. 24101976
[email protected]
P.O. Box 685
1119 Halsell Street
Bridgeport, Texas
(940) 683-4098
(940) 683-3122 (facsimile)

(continued on following page)

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 HARE, WYNN, NEWELL & NEWTON
James R. Moncus III
[email protected]
2025 3rd Ave. N., Suite 800
Birmingham, AL 35203
Phone: (800) 568-5330

Brian M. Vines
[email protected]
200 West Vine Street, Suite 700
Lexington, Kentucky 40507
Phone: (855) 202-2628

Pending Pro Hac Vice Admissions

-AND-

ATTORNEY GROUP
Anthony C. Johnson
[email protected]
2226 Cottondale Ln, #200
Little Rock, AR 72202
Phone: (888) 718-1994

Pending Pro Hac Vice Admissions

ATTORNEYS FOR PLAINTIFFS

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