Judge gives preliminary approval to deal
Surfside settlement class-action to be settled for billions
Just hours after a Surfside condo building collapsed and buried 98 people last summer, the first of many lawsuits that would turn into one of the biggest class-action cases in Florida was filed.
On Friday, less than a month before the oneyear anniversary of the Champlain Towers South tragedy, a team of lawyers representing family members of the deceased submitted a settlement agreement totaling $1,021,199,000 to MiamiDade Circuit Judge Michael Hanzman, who gave his preliminary approval on Saturday after a final court hearing following around-the-clock negotiations.
“It’s a great result,” Hanzman said Saturday during a court hearing with attorneys on both sides of the massive legal dispute. “This agreement appears to be a very reasonable compromise of the claims.”
While the estimated amount was reported earlier this month, the final class-action settlement deal provides definitive details of how much each of the defendants has agreed to pay to resolve wrongful-death and personal-injury claims by the victims’ relatives. They all admitted no responsibility and made most of their individual payments through insurance coverage.
“As this Court has noted, the collapse of Champlain Towers South on June 24, 2021, in Surfside was a ‘black swan’ event that devastated this community,” the class-action plaintiffs’ lawyers wrote in their 213-page settlement filing.
“The death and destruction caused by the collapse resulted in incalculable damage to so many individuals,” the lawyers wrote. “Remarkably, after months of rigorous, arm’s-length negotiations … more than two dozen potentially liable parties have agreed to an unprecedented settlement for an unprecedented event.”
The developers of a nearby condo building, an engineering consultant to the Champlain Towers South, and Becker & Poliakoff, a law firm that represents many condo associations, were among the defendants.
The company paying the biggest portion of the settlement — $517.5 million — is Securitas Security Services USA. The firm’s employees were
contracted to provide guard services, monitor visitors in the lobby and operate the building ’s security system on an emergency basis, including the all-call alarm panel at the front desk to alert residents.
In a prior news release, Securitas USA admitted no wrongdoing or responsibility and noted that it did not install or maintain the building ’s alarm system.
Securitas, owned by a major Swedish company, declined to comment beyond the original statement, which stated: “The legal and insurance claims environment surrounding this matter compelled Securitas USA’s insurers’ participation in the settlement.”
Early on the morning of June 24, the Collins Avenue
property’s pool deck fell into the underground garage seven minutes before the mid- and ocean-front sections of the building tumbled down, killing 98 people and injuring others. After the deck caved and before the building ’s collapse, Securitas’ security guard called 911 twice from the lobby at 1:16 and 1:17 a.m. and attempted to call residents on their phones.
But many residents have said no general security alert was sent out or all-call alarm sounded before the collapse.