A woman who was injured when parts of a crane and construction materials fell from a Fort Lauderdale high-rise project onto the car she was in earlier this month has filed a $50 million-plus negligence lawsuit against the companies involved.
Attorneys for Gemmalyn Castillo announced the lawsuit on her behalf at a news conference Friday.
Castillo, a teacher and mother of four who lives in Broward, suffered "severe and serious head and facial trauma" in the April 4 incident, the lawsuit claims.
FORT LAUDERDALE CRANE COLLAPSE
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The collapse happened at the Riverwalk Residences at 333 N. New River Drive East, a high-rise construction project at the Southeast 3rd Avenue bridge over the New River, near Southeast 4th Street.
Fort Lauderdale fire officials said a construction crew was in the process of "stepping the crane" by adding sections to a crane to make it taller when a platform fell from the building, along with pieces of the crane.
Construction worker Jorge De La Torre, 27, fell with the crane section and was killed.
Three other people who were on the ground or in vehicles, including Castillo, were injured in the incident.
Attorneys for Castillo said she was a rideshare customer who was in the backseat passenger side of a Tesla. After the crane fell on the Tesla, the driver jumped out and Castillo was left inside, the attorneys said.
Castillo was knocked out for a bit in the backseat, came to, and was able to get herself out of the vehicle, the attorneys said.
The suit, which was filed Thursday, seeks damages in excess of $50 million from the project's general contractor, the crane rental company, the rigging company, as well as the developer and the owner of building.
According to the lawsuit, the general contractor "negligently and carelessly allowed an unsafe condition on its construction site and/or negligently and carelessly operated and/or constructed and/or installed and/or supervising the use of the crane equipment such that it came crashing down onto traffic below."
Included in the lawsuit's claims are that the crane wasn't properly inspected, it wasn't assembled or moved correctly, that shortcuts were being made to complete the project "on an unreasonably accelerated schedule," and that there was a failure to protect the public while the crane was being assembled.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is leading the investigation into why the collapse happened but hasn't released any findings.
Castillo's attorneys said she had been hospitalized but was released and is home recovering. They said she has permanent scarring, is suffering from mental health issues and can't go back to her teaching job.
