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MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR VERDICTS AGAINST THE OWNER PERSONALLY AND HIS COMPANIES WARRANTED, WORKER SAFETY DISREGARDED WHEN REPAIR TO CONSTRUCTION CRANE UNDERTAKEN, CRANE OPERATOR AND CO-WORKER ON THE GROUND KILLED WHEN CRANE FELL (FIRST DEPT).

The First Department, in a full-fledged opinion by Justice Webber, determined the corporate veil was properly pierced, a defense expert’s testimony was properly excluded, and millions in damages for pre-impact terror, conscious pain and suffering, as well as punitive damages, were warranted. However, the court deemed the damages awarded by the jury excessive. The defendants were responsible for ordering a new part for a construction crane defendants provided at a construction site. There was evidence the manufacturer of the part was known to be incompetent but was chosen by the defendants anyway to cut costs. The defendants were aware of serious flaws in a similar part made by the same manufacturer. There was evidence the required testing procedures for the new part were deliberately circumvented by the defendants. The evidence supported the jury’s conclusion that the new part failed causing the crane to fall 200 feet, fatally injuring the plaintiffs, the crane operator (Leo) and a co-worker (Kurtaj) on the ground:

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… [O]ne individual (Lomma) exercised domination and control over three separate corporations which he treated as one entity.

There was … sufficient evidence to permit the jury to assess personal liability against Lomma. Contrary to Lomma’s arguments, plaintiffs presented substantial evidence of Lomma’s personal participation in the corporate defendants’ affirmatively tortious acts launching the dangerous instrumentality that caused the deaths of plaintiffs’ decedents … . …

The trial court properly precluded the proposed testimony of defense expert James Wiethorn, which not only was not based on facts in the record, but also contradicted facts in the record … . * * *

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Preimpact terror is a sub-category of conscious pain and suffering … . * * *

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While Lomma and his companies, which dominated the crane rental market in New York, may not have intended to cause plaintiffs’ deaths, these deaths nevertheless arose from a series of calculated decisions made by Lomma over a period of months, during which time Lomma placed profit over the safety of construction workers and the public, despite having multiple opportunities to change course. * * *

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“[I]t is the duty of the court to keep a verdict for punitive damages within reasonable bounds considering the purpose to be achieved as well as the mala fides of the defendant in the particular case”… . Moreover, “[a]lthough states possess considerable discretion over the imposition of punitive damages, the United States Supreme Court has emphasized that there are constitutional limitations on such awards, and that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits the imposition of grossly excessive or arbitrary punishments upon a tortfeasor” … . Matter of 91st St. Crane Collapse Litig., 2017 NY Slip Op 06419, First Dept 9-12-17

NEGLIGENCE (MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR VERDICTS AGAINST THE OWNER PERSONALLY AND HIS COMPANIES WARRANTED, WORKER SAFETY DISREGARDED WHEN REPAIR TO CONSTRUCTION CRANE UNDERTAKEN, CRANE OPERATOR AND CO-WORKER ON THE GROUND KILLED WHEN CRANE FELL (FIRST DEPT))/CORPORATION LAW (PIERCE CORPORATE VEIL, MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR VERDICTS AGAINST THE OWNER PERSONALLY AND HIS COMPANIES WARRANTED, WORKER SAFETY DISREGARDED WHEN REPAIR TO CONSTRUCTION CRANE UNDERTAKEN, CRANE OPERATOR AND CO-WORKER ON THE GROUND KILLED WHEN CRANE FELL (FIRST DEPT))/PIERCE CORPORATE VEIL (MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR VERDICTS AGAINST THE OWNER PERSONALLY AND HIS COMPANIES WARRANTED, WORKER SAFETY DISREGARDED WHEN REPAIR TO CONSTRUCTION CRANE UNDERTAKEN, CRANE OPERATOR AND CO-WORKER ON THE GROUND KILLED WHEN CRANE FELL (FIRST DEPT))CRANES (MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR VERDICTS AGAINST THE OWNER PERSONALLY AND HIS COMPANIES WARRANTED, WORKER SAFETY DISREGARDED WHEN REPAIR TO CONSTRUCTION CRANE UNDERTAKEN, CRANE OPERATOR AND CO-WORKER ON THE GROUND KILLED WHEN CRANE FELL (FIRST DEPT))/LABOR LAW-CONSTRUCTION LAW  (MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR VERDICTS AGAINST THE OWNER PERSONALLY AND HIS COMPANIES WARRANTED, WORKER SAFETY DISREGARDED WHEN REPAIR TO CONSTRUCTION CRANE UNDERTAKEN, CRANE OPERATOR AND CO-WORKER ON THE GROUND KILLED WHEN CRANE FELL (FIRST DEPT))

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