Part 8: The Final Touch: LeMessurier's Good Name
LeMessurier feared for his career but did not allow any worries or self-protective impulses to sidetrack his attention from carrying out the repairs. In the middle of September, when repairs were almost complete, Citicorp notified LeMessurier and his partner that it expected to be reimbursed for the cost of the repairs.
The estimated total cost for the building's repair ranged between a high of $8 million for the structural work alone, given by one of the construction companies involved, to $4 million, which, according to LeMessurier, was the Citicorp estimate (Citicorp did not make public its estimate).
LeMessurier's liability insurance company had agreed to pay $2 million, and LeMessurier brought that figure to the negotiating table. The Citicorp officials eventually agreed to accept the $2 million, to find no fault with LeMessurier's firm, and to close the entire matter.
A relieved LeMessurier nevertheless expected his insurance company to raise the premiums on his liability insurance. He would, he reasoned, appear as an engineer who had bungled an expensive job and brought about a large cash settlement.
At a meeting with officials from the insurance company, LeMessurier's secretary was able to convince them that LeMessurier had "prevented one of the worst insurance disasters of all time!" Far from behaving in an incompetent or devious manner, LeMessurier had acted in a commendable way: he had discovered an unforeseen problem, acted immediately, appropriately, and efficiently to solve it, and solved it.
LeMessurier's handling of the Citicorp situation increased his reputation as an exceptionally competent, forthright structural engineer. It also prompted his liability insurers to lower his premium.