T他在aa非正常死亡负责诉讼陪审团的裁决t companies involved in a 2019 Seattle crane collapse that killed four people split damages among three different companies—and also blamed a fourth firm that wasn't a defendant—但不以与对公司提议的国家安全罚款相匹配的方式。
事故发送了部分拆除的塔起重机桅杆crashing down onto a Google-owned building under construction and onto an adjacent street, crushing automobiles waiting at an intersection. Among those killed were retired city planner Alan Justad, 71, and Sarah Pantip Wong, a 19-year-old college student, who were in cars that were crushed by debris from the falling crane mast.
Their families accused three companies involved in the crane's dismantling of negligence. A jury in state superior court in Seattle ordered the firms to pay about $112 million in damages to the Justad and Wong families, and to two other people who were injured.
Two ironworkers who were on the crane at the time of the collapse, Travis Corbet, 33, of Local 29 in Oregon and Andrew Yoder, 31, of Local 86 in Washington, fell to their deaths. Their families were not plaintiffs in the case.
The trial took six weeks and deliberations lasted another week.
David Beninger, an attorney who represented Justad's family, told a television reporter after the March 14 verdict that the key issues in the trial were "pins and winds," referring to what he claimed were the premature removal of bolts connecting the tower crane sections and the wind speeds while the work was done.
Beninger says he expects there will be appeals.
没有承包商赔偿
陪审员发现了四家公司 - 冰淇淋服务公司西北塔式起重机，总承包商Gly Construction，Crane所有者Morrow Equipment和Omorga Morgan，它们经营了单独的移动塔起重机，该起重机将另一个Tower Crane的桅杆部分降低到了地面。
但是陪审团使它的发现有资格。
陪审员发现，格利建筑的疏忽并没有导致死亡，因此他们拒绝使承包商对损害的任何部分负责。
华盛顿州劳动与工业部已提出罚款，以罚款，以罚款25,200美元，承包商正在竞争25,200美元。
The rest of the jury verdict also failed to line up exactly with the state's proposed safety penalties.
陪审员发现，西北塔式起重机服务公司（Northwest Tower Crane Service Inc.）因严重违规而被罚款12,000美元，对死亡责任45％。这将使它负责约6800万美元的损失。
Northwest Tower Crane Service had said that other companies were to blame for the collapse and that it had no responsibility for what occurred.
While state officials chose not to issue a fine against Omega Morgan, the jury instead found the company 30% responsible. That makes it responsible for about $45.1 million of the total damage award. Citing its role in the process, the company has denied any fault and its attorney, Rodney L. Umberger, Omega Morgan soon would file a motion for a new trial.
More Fine and Damage Deviation
Morrow Equipment, which supplied the crane erection and dismantling crew, was also cited by OSHA. It is contesting the largest proposed state fine related to the collapse, $70,000. The company has denied giving the crew directions or managing them on the day of the collapse.
The civil court lawsuit jury found Morrow Equipment to be 25% responsible for the deaths even though the company was actually not a defendant in the lawsuit. Had it been a defendant, the jury's decision would have caused the company's liability to have been about $37 million.
In their investigation, state labor officials tied the collapse to the premature removal of most of the bolts securing the tower sections together. In their announcement of the citations on Oct. 17, 2019, they said that with pins removed, "the tower was significantly weakened, making it susceptible to the 45-plus miles-per-hour wind gust that toppled it. When the pins are in place, tower cranes can withstand much stronger gusts.”
Manufacturers don't recommend removing most or all pins from the tower connections in anticipation of dismantling, but crane safety experts previously told ENR that the procedure has become a fairly common practice in recent years.
Additionally, OSHA regulations don't specifically forbid it, if crane assembly and disassembly is done according to either manufacturer procedures or “employer procedures,” developed by a qualified person.
该故事于3月23日更新了，以澄清欧米茄摩根（Omega Morgan）雇用了单独的移动塔起重机的操作员，该起重机的角色是在拆卸过程中将另一个塔架的桅杆部分降低到地面。
