There are now 6 lawsuits against a construction company and a developer
Five more lawsuits have been filed against a developer and a construction company over the collapse of a crane in Kelowna, British Columbia, two years ago, which killed five people.
People from the victim’s workplace to a nearby business owner have filed lawsuits. All of them say that the Mission Group and Stemmer Construction were careless when the crane fell on July 12, 2021.
One of the claims filed in B.C. Supreme Court said, “The injuries, loss, and damage have caused and will continue to cause the plaintiff pain, suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life for the rest of his life.”
There are now six lawsuits against the construction company. The new plaintiffs are trying to get civil damages, like a woman who lost her husband, while they wait for answers from ongoing criminal and workplace investigations.
As of the middle of July, neither the developer nor the construction company had replied to any of the claims.
A colleague talks about the search for the victi
Around 11:30 a.m., the crane fell at the construction site of the Brooklyn residential tower on St. Paul Street in downtown Kelowna, crashing into a nearby office tower.
Eric and Patrick Stemmer, as well as construction workers Cailen Vilness and Jared Zook, were also killed when the building fell. The brothers worked for Stemmer Construction, the family business, which had a contract to run the crane.
Brad Zawislak, who was 43 years old, was buried by debris when the crane crashed into the Protech Consulting office where he worked. After two days, his body was found.
This week, Zawislak was sued by a coworker who was sitting “a short distance” away from him when the crane fell.
Shelby Miller said that the crane didn’t hit him, but that falling objects cut him and gave him “significant” bruises.
“[Miller] was in a lot of shock after seeing his coworker get crushed by the falling crane and coming close to getting hit himself,” the claim said.
Another person who worked with Zawislak and tried to help him is also suing.
Grant Maddock said that he was in his office and looking out the window when he saw three workers running away from the crane before it fell with a “enormous crash.”
The claim said, “He ran down the hall to his office and saw the crane operator’s cage sitting where one of his workers, Brad Zawislak, had been working at his desk.”
“[Maddock] was scared and looked everywhere for Brad, but he couldn’t find him.”
The lawsuit said that Maddock then realized that the crane operator was still in the cage and rescued the “badly injured” man by finding towels to stop his bleeding. Then he looked for Zawislak again, but he couldn’t find him.
“[Maddock] later found out that Brad had died when the crane operator cage fell on him and crushed him, sending him through the floor and into the office on the lower floor,” the claim says.
A lawyer on the lower floor talks about what happened
In his own claim this week, lawyer Chris Fraser said that the crane almost hit him in his office right below Zawislak’s, but he was able to get out of the way in time.
The claim said that he went back to his desk a few days later to get some papers and found what he later found out was Zawislak’s shoe there.
“He could also smell the awful smell of what he thought was the dead person in the office above his,” it said.
Miller, Maddock, and Fraser all said that after the collapse, they were left with PTSD.
The third lawsuit was filed by a woman who ran a beauty salon in the same office building. She said that because of the collapse, she had to close her storefront and work from home. In its fifth claim, the Carmel Housing Society said it had to make emergency repairs to its condo building behind the office tower.
The RCMP say that something “catastrophic” happened around 10:45 a.m. while the crane was being taken apart.
Mounties and WorkSafeBC have both started investigations, but they haven’t told the public much about them.
RCMP said in a joint update this spring that investigators were still trying to figure out if any crimes had been committed.
WorkSafeBC said that its investigation is over, but because of an agreement with the police, the agency has not made its findings public.