Simon Property Group Inc. and its management company, M.S. Management Associates Inc., were hit with a federal tenant class action lawsuit that alleges the defendants artificially inflated electricity costs that were passed on to tenants.
Buckner Miles and Kelley Uustal represent the lead plaintiff, Café Gelato & Panini LLC, in the Florida suit before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The nationwide class action seeks damages exceeding $100 million from the defendants, due to the alleged “execution of its complex, surreptitious, and illegal mark-up of electricity charges scheme,” according to the complaint.
Café Gelato operates at Town Center at Boca Raton, which is a shopping center owned by Simon and under management from M.S. Management. Simon is a real estate investment trust that focuses on shopping malls, with properties around the nation, while M.S. manages its malls nationwide.
