Jury awards $860M in damages against Greystar to victims in deadly Dallas crane collapse
A Dallas County jury has found a real estate developer negligent after a crane collapsed on an apartment building in 2019, and awarded the victims — including the parents of a woman who was killed — over $800 million in damages.
Closing arguments were made Tuesday and the jury returned the $860 million verdict Wednesday in the trial over a lawsuit following the crane collapse in Old East Dallas.
The Dallas jury spent hours on Wednesday deliberating if a multi-billion dollar real estate developer, Greystar, or a crane company, Bigge Crane and Rigging, were negligent, according to a report from KDFW-TV. Jurors found only Greystar at fault for the accident.
The crane collapsed on the apartments where 29-year-old Kiersten Smith and other plaintiffs lived at Elan City Lights on June 9, 2019, “causing serious injuries and killing Kiersten Smith,” the lawsuit states.
Smith’s parents, Michele Williams and James Kirkwood, sued Greystar, which owned the Elan apartments and another complex that was under construction called The Gabriella.
The lawsuit named 17 plaintiffs, all of whom were residents of the Elan City Lights apartment community.
The lawsuit also named Bigge Crane and Rigging, the company that leased the crane and operator to Greystar, as a defendant.
“It was not caused by anything that Bigge did, and again Bigge of course extends its total condolences to the family,” said Darrell Barger, lead attorney for the crane company, according to KXAS-TV.
The suit claimed Greystar and Bigge failed to properly test and inspect the crane, did not monitor weather conditions at the work site, and failed to weathervane the crane — the process of adjusting the crane so that it rotates with the natural direction of the wind.
The suit also stated Greystar violated OSHA regulations and standards due to a “Greystar” sign that was on top of the crane, a contributing factor to the collapse, Williams’ attorney, Jason Itkin, said.
“What you decided is important for Kiersten’s memory,” Itkin said, explaining that the verdict could affect future construction safety measures, according to KXAS-TV.
In his closing argument, Itkin talked about an inspection report that had expired and how an updated inspection could have identified potential issues, KXAS reported. He also said the companies did not follow protocol to prepare the crane for bad weather.
The operator of the crane, Robert Hilty, testified last week that he did take steps to weathervane the crane the day before of the accident, according to KXAS.
Greystar argued it was an operator error on behalf.
Attorneys for Bigge Crane and Rigging argued the operator was Greystar’s responsibility because the developer leased the equipment and operator.
