The rot that caused the Berkeley balcony collapse was "produced by a multitude of mistakes during design and construction" of the California apartment block and signs of a problem were later "ignored," US lawyers for the families suing for damages have claimed.
Attorneys for parents of the six victims and the seven injured students said their clients hope the newly filed lawsuits will make the companies and individuals allegedly responsible for the tragedy and “the precise nature of their culpable conduct” publicly known.
They hope that as a result of the court cases “appropriate industry, legislative and other responses will be undertaken to prevent similar tragedies from occurring in the future,” the attorneys said in a statement coinciding with the filing of the 12 legal actions.
Lawyers Michael Kelly, Richard Schoenberger and Matthew Davis of the San Francisco firm Walkup, Melodia, Kelly and Schoenberger said they had filed individual lawsuits on behalf of the seven survivors and the families of the five deceased Irish students.
"Our clients have authorised the filing of these claims with the hope that this litigation will bring to light the negligence and carelessness that caused this entirely avoidable tragedy that has produced so much pain and loss, both here and in Ireland, " they said.
The companies that designed, built, owned and managed the 176-apartment block “cut corners to save money” or “failed to heed one or more of the many ‘red flag’ warnings that the balcony was unsafe in its design, construction and foreseeable use,” they alleged.
The lawyers said no specific amount of money damages is sought in the complaints and that the money due to "the heirs of those who died and the survivors who sustained disabling and lifelong injuries" will be determined by a jury in Alameda County, where Berkeley is located.
San Francisco lawyers Rains Lucia Stern, representing the parents of Irish-American student Ashley Donohoe, have filed identical legal complaints.
The students and families were “tremendously grateful” to the Berkeley emergency services and medical staff in San Francisco Bay Area hospitals who responded “in heroic ways,” the statement said.
Their clients received “solace, comfort and support” from the Bay Area’s Irish-American community, and from local people who “were touched by what happened and reached out to help,” they said.
