On June 5, a building undergoing demolition collapsed through the roof of the adjoining Salvation Army Thrift Store in Center City, Philadelphia. 6 people died, and 14 more were seriously injured in the collapse. Our building collapse injury lawyers report that Mariya Plekan was the most seriously injured of the survivors. She reportedly remained conscious for 13 hours, her legs pinned under a heavy beam, calling for help as she awaited rescue.
Ms. Plekan has since undergone numerous surgeries, including having both legs amputated above the hip. She was hospitalized for nearly 6 months, and faces ongoing rehabilitation and permanent life care. Before the building collapse, she used to be a caregiver herself, and finds the prospect of living the rest of her life completely dependent on others daunting. Mariya Plekan’s story is just one example of the many human tragedies that result when greed and expediency lead to neglect for basic safety precautions.
In mid-November, OSHA fined the contractor and excavator responsible for the demolition project a combined $397,000 for their roles in the deadly disaster. While these numbers are high for OSHA fines, they can’t begin to account for the human costs of the contractor’s and the excavator’s actions in terms of lives ended, families torn apart, and survivors who must live with debilitating disabilities for the rest of their lives. The building collapse injury lawyers at Denena Points, PC realize that the real tragedy of the deadly building collapse in Center City is that it was entirely preventable had proper demolition practices and basic safety procedures been followed.
David Michaels, an Assistant Secretary at the Department of Labor said that, “If the two employers that OSHA has cited… had followed very basic and obvious safety precautions, six people who were killed on June 5, 2013, would be alive today.” He states that the general contractor, Griffin Campbell, and the excavator, Sean Benschop, showed “willful disregard for safety standards and to the lives of workers.”
You might remember that Sean Benschop was arrested in the days following the collapse, though Campbell remained free. $313,000 of the OSHA fines were levied against Campbell for using a dangerous method to demolish the building, failing to procure an engineering survey before the demolition, and a host of other violations of federal rules. $84,000 of the fines were against Benschop, who was cited for creating a situation where a 3-story wall was left standing (albeit briefly) at the demolition site without support.
Our building collapse injury lawyers note that people seem to be content to overlook the Salvation Army’s own role in the building collapse. The Salvation Army reportedly had refused to negotiate with the contractor and allow them on site to set up protections prior to the demolition. And even with alleged warnings from the contractors’ lawyers of the dangers ahead, the Salvation Army kept its store open. Trying to save souls is no excuse for ignoring the lives that house those souls.
Following the fines from OSHA, criminal charges have also been handed down. 6 counts of 3rd degree murder, 6 counts of involuntary manslaughter, and 13 counts of recklessly endangering others have been filed against Griffin Campbell. District Attorney Seth Williams said, “[T]he motive was greed.” As late as the day before the deadly building collapse in Center City, Campbell is accused of ignoring sensible safety advice. The night before the collapse, an architect allegedly cautioned Campbell that the unsupported wall could collapse at any time. Reportedly, Campbell promised to shore up the wall and knock down the three remaining stories of the building by hand. And allegedly, about an hour before the collapse, Campbell called the architect to tell him that the building had been safely demolished. An appalling lie. An hour later, the building had indeed fallen, in a horrific and clearly unsafe manner.
Griffin Campbell apparently chose the most profitable way of dismantling the building, rather than the safest way, by selling off key support components, joists, for salvage. And then he left a 3-story brick wall standing without support. Continue to Part 2 to learn about the safe way to demolish the Center City building and about punitive damages in such cases where contractors egregiously violate their legal duty regarding your safety.