UPDATE: September 23, 2024: The construction company that employed six workers who died when the cargo ship Dali struck Baltimore’s Key Bridge and caused its collapse is suing Dali’s owner and operator, the Baltimore Sun reported. The suit came just one day after the families of three of the victims of the collapse announced they also plan to sue.
Hunt Valley, Maryland-based Brawner Builders Inc. alleges that owner Grace Ocean and manager Synergy Marine Group acted negligently, leading to the fatal collapse on March 26.
The contractor filed suit Sept. 18, seeking to challenge the companies’ attempts to limit their liability and to recoup costs associated with the loss of six employees as well as equipment on the bridge at the time of the collapse, per the Sun.
It’s the third major lawsuit in a few days against the Singaporean companies. The Department of Justice also filed a suit against the companies last week, seeking $100 million in damages for the cleanup and removal effort.
Original story continues below.
Dive Brief:
- The families of three of the construction workers who died in the Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore are suing the owner and manager of the cargo ship Dali, which struck the span in the early hours of March 26, WBAL reported.
- At an event Tuesday hosted by Latino advocacy organization CASA, family members of Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalez, José Mynor López and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera said they will seek damages from Grace Ocean Private, the owner of the Dali, and Synergy Marine Group, the ship’s manager. They are also calling for policy changes to protect construction workers, who are often immigrants like the men who died in the collapse.
- The claim will be filed by Washington, D.C.-based Gupta Wessler LLP before a Sept. 24 deadline for claims, per WBAL. It will challenge a petition from the owner and manager filed in the U.S. District Court in Baltimore that seeks to limit the companies’ liability for the collapse.
Dive Insight:
The families did not state how much money they are seeking.
In total, six construction workers died when the bridge collapsed. In addition to Gonzalez, López and Cabrera, Alejandro Hernández Fuentes, Maynor Yasir Suazo Sandoval and Carlos Daniel Hernández Estrella died.
Employed by Hunt Valley, Maryland-based Brawner Builders, they were filling potholes on the bridge’s roadway when the ship struck one of its pylons, causing its collapse. Another worker fell into the Patapsco River, but was rescued by authorities.
"No financial loss can compare to the loss of human life ... no legal loophole should ever be able to erase the value of a human life," Gustavo Torres, CASA executive director, said at the event.
