Family of Charlotte scaffolding collapse victim sues contractors over ‘gross negligence’
A “catastrophic failure” to protect construction workers led to the scaffolding collapse that sent three men plunging to their deaths in uptown Charlotte in January, one victim’s family alleges in a lawsuit filed this week.
On the morning of Jan. 2, a construction crew was working on a 17-story residential tower near Charlotte’s Dilworth neighborhood when a “mast climber” scaffold collapsed. Workers Jesus “Chuy” Olivares, Jose Bonilla Canaca and Gilberto Monico Fernández died after falling 70 feet. Two other workers were injured.
The lawsuit, filed in Mecklenburg County Superior Court by Olivares’ brother and sister, alleges that pieces of the steel scaffolding were “heavily rusted and deteriorated” — and that none of the site’s contractors inspected the equipment or confirmed it could hold the 1,765 pounds of materials and equipment loaded onto it that morning.
The allegations echo the findings of a recent North Carolina labor department investigation that found serious safety violations at the construction site.
The suit contends that several companies — including general contractor Lithko Contracting, Hanover R.S. East Construction, scaffolding manufacturer Hydro Mobile and Matthews subcontractor Old North State Masonry — demonstrated “gross negligence” by failing to protect workers from known hazards.
None of those companies responded to requests for comment this week.
A sister asks: Why weren’t workers protected?
Olivares, a 42-year-old father of four, was laying brick on the building’s exterior when the scaffolding collapsed.
He likely experienced a terrifying last few moments, his family says.
“Mr. Olivares fell approximately 70 feet and would have been aware that he was falling to almost certain death during his descent,” the complaint states.
A kind, generous and fun-loving man, Olivares relished lighting big fireworks on the Fourth of July, watching the New England Patriots and above all, spending time with his wife and children, his family members say. Few things gave him more joy than wrestling with his kids on the floor or having them bury him in sand at the beach, according to his sister, Amy Castro.
“He was a big goofball with a great personality that I wish was still here,” she said.
The tragedy on Jan. 2, she said, has left her with a question about the supervisors on that uptown Charlotte job site: “Why didn’t they do their due diligence to make sure everyone was safe?”
For Castro and her family, filing the lawsuit is not about money, she said. It’s about doing what they can to protect other workers.
“There’s not any amount of money that would bring satisfaction — or bring him back,” she said. “…If they had done their job and made sure everything was safe, he’d still be here for the next Fourth of July.
“We don’t want this to continue to happen. We want everybody to be safe when they are building these buildings.”
Vernon Sumwalt, a Charlotte lawyer who is representing Olivares’ family, said he, too, hopes legal action will help prompt other employers to take greater safety precautions.
“When our founding fathers wrote the 7th Amendment, granting the right to a jury trial, they knew money was the only way to hold people accountable,” Sumwalt said. “It’s the only way to deter people from causing others to be unsafe.”
Companies face citations, more legal scrutiny
More lawsuits may follow.
Camille Payton, a Charlotte lawyer who is representing Bonilla’s family members, said she’s attempting to negotiate a monetary settlement for the family.
“We are hoping to resolve the case without court intervention, especially in a case where the liability seems so clear,” she said. “...The family expects the defendants to do the right thing. They are trusting people.”
But Payton said that if those negotiations aren’t successful, she’s prepared to file a lawsuit on the family’s behalf.
After wrapping up its investigation last month, the state labor department fined Old North State Masonry $87,000 for six serious violations. Friends Masonry Construction LLC, a Charlotte-based subcontractor, was fined more than $43,500 for three serious violations.
Mast climber scaffolds, which are attached to the sides of buildings under construction, carry equipment and people up and down the structure, much like an elevator.
The state cited the companies for failing to repair a mast climber scaffold that was rusted and deteriorated, failing to inspect the scaffold for visible defects prior to each shift and other violations.
The companies are contesting those citations.
A deadly year for NC construction workers
In an interview with the Observer earlier this year, Bonilla’s parents say they want stronger efforts to keep construction workers safe.
“I want there to be more safety so this will never happen again to Latino families,” Jose’s mother, Iris Bonilla, said through an interpreter at her east Charlotte home. “Because their parents, mothers, sons – they’re waiting for them to come back home.”
Osman Reyes, Bonilla’s stepfather, was also working on the East Morehead Street construction site when the three men died in January. He said he had been concerned about the safety of the scaffolding because it appeared to be unstable. When he approached an employee with Old North State Masonry to ask about that, he said, he was told it had been put up properly.
At least 16 people have died in scaffolding-related incidents in North Carolina over the past decade, state Occupational Safety and Health records show.
In March 2015, three construction workers in Raleigh died and another was seriously injured as a track to a mast climber scaffold fell to the ground. One worker was in a portable toilet that was crushed by the falling platform. In that case, investigators found that the scaffolding had been overloaded and not properly secured to the building.
For Charlotte construction workers, this year has been a deadly one.
In May, two men — Demonte Sherrill and Reuben Holmes — were killed in the massive fire that consumed an apartment building under construction near SouthPark Mall.
