Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Two more Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport (KBHM) contractors dismissed from sign collapse lawsuit

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Two more defendants have been dismissed from a lawsuit against Birmingham airport contractors after plaintiff lawyers in the case agreed that they had nothing to do with a display board that collapsed last year and killed a child.

A.G. Gaston Construction Inc. had contracted with the Birmingham Airport Authority to act as the program manager on a major renovation and expansion at the Birmingham Shuttlesworth International Airport. The second company, Saber Construction Inc., sub-contracted as a consultant to A.G. Gaston Construction and was later bought by the latter company.

Shortly after the first phase of that project was completed last year, a multi-user flight information display board (MUFID) collapsed and 10-year-old Luke Bresette, killing him and injuring three other members of his family.

A.G. Gaston Construction filed a motion for summary judgment on Monday.

On Tuesday, lawyers for the plaintiff filed a brief, arguing that neither of the companies had anything to do with display board that collapsed and agreeing that they should be dismissed from the lawsuit.

"[I]t is clear that Gaston was not involved with the design, manufacture, construction, inspection and/or installation of the flight information display unit and its actions did not contribute to cause the Bresette family tragedy," the plaintiffs wrote. "The Plaintiffs have stated to the Court, and have consistently held, they would not attempt to keep defendants in the case if they had no prior knowledge and had no part in causing or contributing to cause the catastrophic events in this case."

This is the third time that the plaintiffs have asked the court to dismiss defendants from the case. Khafra Engineering Consultants and Monumental Contracting were also dismissed.

With the dismissal of Monumental Contracting, the plaintiffs argued that contractor had tried to warn others that the display boards were unstable and had refused to install them.

The remaining defendants include Brasfield & Gorrie and Bloc Global Services Group, the joint-venture team managing construction; KPS Group, architectural firm; and Fish Construction, flight display fabricator.

In their brief this week, the plaintiffs explained that they included several parties because insufficient information was available for them to determine who was at fault.

"As a result of this exchange of information, important facts have come to light that were unknown to the Bresette family and their attorneys that were not available prior to the filing of this lawsuit," the plaintiffs said. "Certain parties were warned about the hazards involving the flight information display units, and chose to ignore warnings that serious personal injuries and death could result from failing to take steps to protect the public." 


Source:  http://blog.al.com