TROY -- One of the contractors who worked on Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's $200 million performing arts center is now alleging that the Troy school defamed the company in the media.

LaCorte Cos., a Troy electrical engineering firm, sued RPI and other defendants last year alleging that construction of the school's new Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center was rushed for publicity purposes, causing millions of dollars in cost overruns for LaCorte.

LaCorte sued for $2.6 million in losses on the project, which opened in 2008 to much fanfare. EMPAC, as it is known, has a 1,200-seat concert hall and a 400-seat theater and is the most expensive building in RPI's history.

After LaCorte sued the school, general contractor Turner Construction and architecture firm Davis Brody Bond LLP last year, RPI issued a press release quoting school official Claude Rounds saying the school stood behind Turner's work and calling the lawsuit a "frivolous matter."

LaCorte amended its lawsuit last month, saying that RPI has already sued the project architect in a lawsuit alleging that designs led to problems with construction.

The LaCorte complaint says RPI should not have called LaCorte's lawsuit frivolous if it felt there were already problems with the design. "The statement was made with actual malice against LaCorte and with reckless disregard of facts that were in possession of Rounds and RPI at the time the statement was made," LaCorte states in an amended complaint.

The school's statement was published by the Troy Record newspaper in August. A copy of the story was submitted as an exhibit in the case.

RPI spokesman Mark Marchand said the school would have no comment on the amended complaint, which seeks an additional $5 million.

LaCorte's attorney in the case, James Barriere of Albany, was not available for comment Wednesday because he was out of the area for a trial. Contacted Wednesday, a Davis Brody Bond spokesman declined comment due to pending litigation.