Two lawsuits involving the Oregon Department of Transportation are calling into question the agency's process for settling highway contract disputes.

In the last year, Ross Brothers & Co. and Oregon Mainline Paving have filed lawsuits against ODOT over subcontractor payment disputes on highway projects. Both cases are now awaiting court trials after ODOT's dispute resolution process failed to produce results.

"(ODOT) is trying to send a message to the Oregon construction community that ODOT is not going to consider and attempt to settle claims on projects in good faith," said Robert Coleman, an attorney representing subcontractors in both cases. "But instead (the agency) is going to threaten actions against individuals if they believe they're owed money. "

In a June 25 hearing, retiring Marion County Circuit Court judge Paul Lipscomb agreed with Coleman's assessment, calling the Oregon Mainline Paving case "grossly over-litigated" and questioning ODOT's motives for refusing to settle the dispute out of court, according to a court transcript of the proceeding. The number of filings and amount of paperwork far exceeds what's typical for a $1.5 million contract on one project, he said.