$101mil Settlement in Deadly 2003 Tropicana Parking Garage Collapse

Attorney Robert J. Mongeluzzi says the settlement is believed to be the largest in a construction ac

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. October 14, 2008

ATLANTIC COUNTY, NJ, April 11, 2007. A settlement package of $101 million was announced today by a New Jersey Superior Court judge and attorneys representing the families of the four construction workers killed and more than 30 others injured in the October 30, 2003, catastrophic collapse of the Tropicana Casino parking garage. The settlement includes approximately $82.5 million in cash, $2 million in previously settled cases, approximately $8.2 million of workers compensation payments to victims that will not have to be repaid, and more than $8.3 million in future medical expenses.

The settlement was announced in Atlantic County Superior Court. Judge William E. Nugent presided over the lengthy pre-trial discovery and had set June 6 as a trial date. Judge Stephen P. Perskie acted as Settlement Judge. The following defendants are among the parties to the settlement: Tropicana, Keating Building Corporation, the general contractor, Midstate Filigree Systems, Inc., Fabi Construction, Inc., the concrete subcontractor, DeSimone Consulting Engineers, the project's structural engineer, and Site-Blauvelt Engineers, which inspected the concrete and reinforcing steel.

Trial preparation by plaintiff attorneys included taking nearly 250 depositions, including those of leading structural engineering experts, obtaining and examining more than 1.5 million pages of documents, and more than 50,000 pages of deposition transcripts.

Robert J. Mongeluzzi, of the Philadelphia law firm Saltz, Mongeluzzi, Barrett & Bendesky, P.C., Lead Counsel for the litigation with Paul D'Amato of the D'Amato Law Office, Linwood, New Jersey, said the settlement was fair, but that no amount of compensation could bring back the dead or heal the permanently injured.

Larry Bendesky, Mongeluzzi's partner and a member of the trial team, said that 'the simple explanation of the cause of the collapse is that the floors were not connected to the walls with the required reinforcing steel. Built without the necessary steel, it is no wonder it collapsed like a house of cards."

Mongeluzzi said the settlement is believed to be the largest in a construction accident case in American history. "This closes one of the most tragic chapters in American construction history. The devastating wounds occurred on October 30, 2003, the scars will last forever," Mongeluzzi said. "All of the families are to be commended for their courage, for carrying on the good names of their loved ones who believed in the sanctity of a safe work environment. They each hope this case sends a message to builders and owners that cutting construction corners costs lives."

D'Amato said, "There is no question that this is an accident that should have been and could have been avoided. After intensive preparation and consultation with a team of leading experts, we were prepared to present at trial a mountain of evidence to show beyond any doubt that if accepted construction industry practices had been followed, these courageous men who lost their lives would be alive today."

The fatalities, all New Jersey residents, were Michael Wittland, 53, of Pleasantville and James Bigelow, 29, of Egg Harbor Township, both iron workers; and Robert Tartaglio Jr., 42, of Galloway Township and Scott Pietrosante, 21, of Milmay, Buena Vista Township, laborers for Fabi. Mr. Wittland, 53, was only six months short of retirement after 35 years as an ironworker. Edward Wittland, the oldest of their three sons, suffered a broken neck and was one of the numerous workers that were critically injured in the collapse.

The disaster was investigated by local, state, and federal authorities. In April 2004, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued citations and fined four contractors after its investigation revealed that the construction site - and particularly the installation of the crucial floor-to-wall elements - was an accident waiting to happen. One of the citations charged Fabi with failure to erect, support and maintain steel formwork capable of supporting all possible vertical and lateral loads. The fines initially totaled nearly $120,000, but were reduced on appeal. The Tropicana was the scene of several earlier accidents. In October 2002, three laborers were injured when a prefabricated concrete slab on which wet concrete was being poured cracked. The workers fell to the ground, spared more serious injury only because they were working on the first floor at the time.

The lead trial team was comprised of Mr. Mongeluzzi, Mr. D'Amato, Mr. Bendesky, and Michael Maggiano of Fort Lee, New Jersey. Other members of the trial team were V. Paul Bucci, II, Ernest Alvino, Jr., and Jeffrey P. Fritz.