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A lawsuit involving members of the family that owns Andersen Construction Co. alleges three family members hid assets from others and transferred money from the company into individually controlled entities.

The lawsuit, filed June 6 in Multnomah County Circuit Court, asks for $3 million to $9 million in damages.

The lawsuit, which was , alleges Joel, David and Stephen Andersen, along with Chief Financial Officer Bill Eckhardt, issued phantom stock and sold Andersen Construction assets to other entities for less than fair market value.

The board paid excessive compensation, giving Joel Andersen $3.2 million, and David Andersen $2.3 million, in fiscal year 2017, the lawsuit alleges.

A lawyer for the defendants denied the allegations.

鈥淭his is a family issue that, regretfully, has been made public in a very hurtful way,鈥� Joshua Ross, a Stoll Berne attorney, wrote in a prepared statement.聽鈥淭he allegations are grossly false and rooted in misconceptions. We will let the legal process demonstrate the correct record.鈥�

Ross added, 鈥淲e are reviewing the complaint and will respond to it at the appropriate time.聽For now, we have no other statements to share publicly.鈥�

Andersen Construction was founded in 1950 by Andrew Andersen, who owned and operated the company until he died in 2008. The lawsuit comes from Sandra Andersen, his widow and step-mother to David and Stephen; and Brittany Jurj, Andrew’s granddaughter and David’s daughter. Joel Andersen is David’s son.

The lawsuit was filed by Stephen English and Nathan Morales of Perkins Coie.

Andersen Construction, based in Portland, is one of Oregon’s largest construction firms. The company reported $691 million in billings in 2017. Andersen Construction was the general contractor for projects including the Oregon Health and Science University Knight Cancer Research Center and Heartline, and is currently building District Office in the Central Eastside, among other projects.

The lawsuit implicates transactions involving Q21 Apartments in Northwest Portland and an apartment building near the University of Oregon campus in Eugene.