Legal News

Appeals court affirms building owners' negligence in earthquake case

By Richard Binder

The Second District Court of Appeals last week upheld a decision issued in San Luis Obispo County Court that ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in an appeal in Leroy Myrick v. Mary Mastagni. The case stems from two deaths that occurred in the San Simeon earthquake of 2003, in which the Acorn building collapsed and killed Jennifer Myrick and Marilyn Frost-Zafuto.

The women's survivors filed suit against the building owners for negligence in failing to perform seismic retrofitting of the building. The jury not only found the owners negligent but also found that they were members of a joint venture in owning and maintaining the building and made the defendant owners jointly and severally liable. The damages amounted to $1.2 million for Myrick's death and $700,000 in the Frost-Zafuto death.

The defendants appealed, claiming they had no duty to retrofit the building until 2018, a deadline established by a city ordinance, and that the court erred in making them jointly and severally liable.  The appeals court disagreed.  Robert L. Kaufman with Brown, Brown & Klass, the law firm representing the defendants, said they are consulting with their clients about review.

Full story here.

Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on June 28, 2010 (boomark / email).