Roswell, Georgia’s lead counsel, knew that professional engineer Ronald Graiff was their foundation of RF engineering support for defending T-Mobile’s lawsuit against the city, and was taken back when he quit on March 2, 2024, stating it was due to his “mental stress, his age, and his personal situation.” T-Mobile disagrees, alleging that he only resigned after they presented in a pretrial brief “the fundamental flaws in Mr. Graiff’s opinions and, critically, his failure to use any standard methodologies or tests to produce any concrete evidence supporting his opinions.”
This week, T-Mobile continued its 14-year battle with Roswell, Georgia, to erect a 108-foot monopine near Lake Charles Drive that was denied multiple times.
The ongoing lawsuit is the costliest and most protracted siting litigation in the United States, with both parties shelling out well over a million dollars in legal fees since T-Mobile filed the complaint in 2010.
It is also the first time a lawsuit might hinge on a carrier’s opposition to a defendant’s motion to substitute an expert for a consultant incapable of continuing because of his age and emotional state.
On March 2, 2024, the city’s RF engineering expert, Ronald Graiff, 78, unexpectedly resigned as Roswell’s consultant due to “mental stress, his age, and his personal situation,” according to an email Graiff sent to lead counsel for the City of Roswell, Angela Couch.
Couch said she had talked to Graiff on March 1, 2024, and “he unequivocally stated that he was finished with this case and that he could no longer take the stress. He abruptly terminated the call after flatly stating, ‘don’t call me anymore.’ “
Graiff was hired in February 2017 and communicated on occasion regarding the case status. When the city received a declaratory ruling in March 2023 that the case would be active again, Graiff agreed to continue to assist the city and, as in the past, would be the foundation of the…
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