Over $100 Million To Victims Of 2019 Seattle Crane Collapse

SEATTLE, WA —A jury on Monday awarded more than $100 to victims of the 2019 tower crane collapse in the South Lake Union neighborhood, which left four dead and three injured, according to the Associated Press.

The incident took place on April 27, 2019, when a 300-foot crane fell from a Google building under construction at Fairview Avenue North and Mercer Street. Workers had been disassembling the crane in strong winds.

Two ironworkers fell to their deaths, and the crane crushed cars below, killing 19-year-old Sarah Pantip Wong and 71-year-old Alan Justad.

The cases were filed against two construction companies by the families of Wong and Justad and three others who were injured in the incident: Brittany Cadelena, who was with Wong in an Uber at the time of the collapse, and Ali Edriss, the Uber driver.

According to the verdict, Wong's family is entitled to $54 million, Justad's to $39 million and Cadelena and Edriss will each receive $9 million apiece.

"When your work affects the public, your job is to protect the public," David Beninger, an attorney for Justad's family, said in a news release. "Hopefully this will also bring some closure for the families and individuals hurt by this preventable collapse."

The families of the ironworkers who died, Travis Corbet, 33, and Andrew Yoder, 31, have filed separate lawsuits.

According to the AP, investigators had found that companies involved in the project had cut corners during the crane's disassembly.

The suit was brought against two of those companies —Omega Morgan and Northwestern Tower Crane Service.

According to the verdict, the jury said the two companies and a third company —Morrow Equipment Co. —were responsible for $150 million in damages. Omega Morgan and Northwestern Tower Crane Service were deemed responsible for 75 percent of the damages.

Morrow was not involved in the trial and does not have to pay as a result of the verdict, according to the AP. However, lawyers for the victims said they are pursuing separate claims against the company.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs told the AP that both Morrow and Northwest Tower Crane had acknowledged some responsibility for the incident, and changed their practices as a result.

However, the attorneys said Omega Morgan's repeated denial of blame forced the case to go to trial instead of there being a settlement.

"You had Northwest Tower Crane pulling too many pins too fast, creating an opportunity for disaster," Todd Gardner, an attorney for Wong's family, told the AP. "You had Omega Morgan deciding they were going to continue to work despite the winds. Had either of them done their job, this wouldn't have happened."