Building's frame collapses on worker: Improper construction: Improper sheathing: Wrongful death: Structured settlement

Law Reporter, Sep 1999

Breault v. A&G Contracting, Inc., Minn., McLeod County Dist. Ct., No. C5-98-261, Mar. 6, 1999.

Breault, 34, was working on the ground floor of a partially constructed three-story apartment building when the frame collapsed. He suffered fatal injuries. A concrete worker who had been earning about $25,000 annually, he is survived by his wife and three minor children.

Breault's wife, as trustee for the estate, sued the framing contractor, general contractor, and property owner, alleging they had improperly constructed the house by failing to place sheathing on each floor as it was being built. This would have provided stability to the structure, plaintiff claimed.

Defendants argued the building collapsed due to an unexpectedly strong gust of wind.

Plaintiff's experts claimed the wind had not been more than 50 miles per hour at the time of the collapse.

The parties structured a settlement with a present value of $1.1 million, including a $600,000 lump sum payment.

The framer and the general contractor each contributed $500,000, and the property owner, the rest. Plaintiff's experts included Bruce Watson, meteorology, and James Maddox, construction framing, both of St. Paul, Minn.; and William Enderson, meteorology; Chris Orr, meteorology; and Thomas Obermeyer, construction processes/engineering, all of Minneapolis, Minn.

Duane Moench, Minneapolis, Minn., was defendants , structural engineering expert.

Plaintiff rs Counsel: *Peter W. Riley, Minneapolis, Minn. [Documents in the Breault case are available through the Court Documents section in the back section of this issue, courtesy of Mr. Riley.]