Dive Brief:
- Family members of a highway construction worker killed in a 2023 crash on I-695 near Baltimore have filed suit against the contractor, alleging it failed “to ensure a safe construction zone for those working on the project,” the Baltimore Banner reported.
- Sybil DiMaggio, 46, was one of six workers who died when two cars collided, sending one into a work zone on the Maryland highway. Her husband and children filed the suit Oct. 10 in Baltimore County Circuit Court against Gaithersburg, Maryland-based road builder Concrete General Inc. as well as the state of Maryland and the two motorists.
- The suit seeks judgment for damages in excess of $75,000 for DiMaggio’s family, per the Baltimore Sun. It claims a toppled warning sign was not reinstalled, a 150-foot-long opening in a concrete barrier allowed vehicles to gain access to the workzone and a truck designed to protect workers was parked in a spot that provided no protection, according to the Baltimore Banner.
Dive Insight:
On March 22, 2023, driver Lisa Lea was traveling at over 100 mph on the highway when she tried to move into another lane, officials said, and another driver, Melachi Brown, was also speeding when he clipped her. Lea’s vehicle traveled through the opening in the concrete barrier, overturning multiple times and striking and killing the workers.
Brown pleaded guilty to six counts of negligent vehicular manslaughter and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Lea’s trial is scheduled for April 2025.
DiMaggio, an employee of Sparks, Maryland, consulting and construction firm KCI Technologies Inc., was working on material testing on the jobsite when she was killed.
“We want accountability for what has happened for our loved one,” said Dylan DiMaggio, Sybil DiMaggio’s son, the Baltimore Banner reported. “Not a day goes by that we don’t think about her. It’s difficult every single day.”
Concrete General did not respond to Construction Dive’s request for comment. The State Highway Administration, which contracted Concrete General for the project, said in a statement shared with the Baltimore Sun that signs would not have prevented the crash and that it does not comment on pending litigation.
Lea’s lawyer did not respond to Construction Dive’s request for comment on the suit and Brown’s lawyer could not be reached for comment.
This story has been updated to indicate that the drivers’ lawyers did not comment on the suit.
