Christopher Hossack and Heather Seiferth, with the assistance of paralegal, Therese Mayo, defeated a wrongful death claim filed against one of Clark Hill’s national architect/engineer clients in which the Plaintiffs demanded $3,000,000 to settle our client’s alleged liability. The final settlement demand against all defendants in this litigation was $20,000,000, as the deceased was a young man who left minor children behind at his passing.
Clark Hill’s client was responsible for drafting, auditing and enforcing safety programs during construction administration work for a mine owner preparing to re-open a copper mine in rural Arizona. As the construction work was winding down, our client’s services were reduced and the mine owner assumed more responsibility for the completion of construction. On a day when our client’s safety technicians were directed by the mine owner to stand down, the deceased, a rookie miner who had only worked six days in this mine allegedly stepped into an un-barricaded chute and fell to his death. Plaintiffs sought to hold our client, along with the mine owner and its other contractors, jointly and severally liable for failing to enforce safety rules and MHSA mine safety standards on the day of the accident. The mine owner also demanded indemnification from our client under its contract.
Shortly before trial was due to start, Chris and Heather persuaded the trial court to reconsider a summary judgment motion that had previously been denied. The motion argued that our client could not have proximately caused this accident because the chute was properly barricaded and marked on the client’s last site visit, and no employee of our client was present on the day of the accident. After the second argument, the trial judge ruled from the bench to dismiss all claims against our client. Not only was this architect/engineer firm spared the expense and risk of a three week jury trial, but also the mine owner’s indemnity claim was extinguished by this ruling.
