Family Receives $39M Following Fatal Construction Accident

This month, a jury directed manufacturer Advance Cast Stone to pay $39 million in damages after a Milwaukee parking garage panel collapsed killing a teenager and severely injuring two others. After a five-week trial, the jury found that Advance Cast Stone intentionally concealed and misrepresented that the concrete panels of the garage had been defectively or deficiently installed. The threat of this danger came to life when an entire 13-ton panel collapsed onto the group of pedestrians.

At trial, evidence was introduced showing that the collapsed panel was poorly installed thereby posing a serious threat of danger to everyone who used or walked by the municipal garage. Among this evidence, testimony revealed that the concrete panel was fasted to the structural body using only two, rather than the prescribed four, steel connecting rods.

Fifteen-year-old Jared Kellner was among the victims who died under the collapse. Following the verdict, the young boy’s mother told reporters, “Thank you to the community for remembering Jared; thank you to the people who stood up now so this never happens to anyone else or any other family.”

Jared’s friend, fifteen-year-old Eric Wosinski and his mother, Amy Wosinski, who had accompanied the teenagers, were also severely injured in the collapse. Among other things, the Wosinkis sought compensation for the medical expenses required to partially amputate Mrs. Wosinski’s leg that was left irreparably damaged after the incident.

Advance Cast Stone was also charged with reimbursing Milwaukee County for the necessary repairs to the parking garage and the lost revenues it incurred during the months it was closed following the incident.

If you or someone you know has been injured or killed as a result of a construction-related accident or a product defect, contact the attorneys at Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner by calling (713) 222-7211 or 713-222-7211.