An Orlando law firm
files the first suit against the Florida International University pedestrian bridge builders on behalf of one of the collapse victims.
Orlando law firm Morgan & Morgan filed Monday the first lawsuit against the companies that built the pedestrian bridge that collapsed last week near Florida International University in Miami, killing six people.
The suit was filed on behalf of Marquise Rashaad Hepburn, of Miami, who was riding his bicycle to work and passing beneath the south end of the bridge when it crumbled. Amid the chaos, a driver hoping to avoid the wreckage veered into Hepburn’s bicycle, tossing him to the ground, attorney Matt Morgan said at a news conference Monday.
Hepburn was hospitalized with serious spinal injuries and now is recovering at home in Miami.
“As a result of the failure of this bridge, the lives of many families throughout the state have been changed forever,” Morgan said. “Families are crushed and devastated beyond measure right now throughout the state because of the failure of this bridge.”
The suit, filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, names FIGG Bridge Engineers Inc., Munilla Construction Management LLC., Networking Engineering Services Inc., Bolton Perez & Associates and Louis Berger U.S. and alleges negligence. It seeks in excess of $15,000 in damages.
A call to Munilla wasn’t immediately returned. The Miami Herald reported the company deleted all of its social media accounts.
In a statement, FIGG said it would “work diligently with authorized investigators ... to determine what led to the accident and what can be done to ensure that nothing like it happens again.”
Morgan cited a voicemail left by a contractor for a state transportation official, warning of cracking in the bridge’s walkway. He also spoke of news reports that detailed a meeting in which the crack was discussed hours before the bridge collapsed Thursday.
“There was certainly a failure throughout the course of this project,” Morgan said.
In total, six people were killed and at least eight more injured after the 950-ton concrete structure crashed onto Southwest 8th Street.
On Monday, the Miami campus reopened after spring break, and a moment of silence was held to honor the victims.
Also, Gov. Rick Scott ordered the Florida Department of Transportation to halt the payments of $13.6 million in federal funding for the bridge until after an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board.
In Orlando, Morgan said litigation could take years and speculated legal claims filed by all of the victims could soar.
“With this particular lawsuit, it goes above and beyond compensating the victims and their families, and it goes to protecting the motoring public and making sure something like this never happens again,” he said. “We believe part of this verdict will likely be to send a message to others in this particular field to make sure when you’re conducting any type of construction activity that you do so in the safest way possible.”