Deadly Balcony Collapse in Berkeley, CA Leads To Numerous Lawsuits

Parents of six college students killed and seven injured in the Berkeley, California balcony collapse last June have begun filing lawsuits alleging negligence by the building manager, Greystar, and the construction firm, Segue Construction. The victims, most of whom were working in the San Francisco Bay area on temporary visas for the summer, were on the small balcony when it plunged some 40 to the street below. Just hours after the balcony collapsed experts said water damage was clearly the cause. The support beams could be seen flaking away in a worker's hand, because of dry rot.

According to the lawsuits, the apartment balcony was showing danger signs of collapsing as far back as 2008, and despite complaints by previous tenants the property manager did nothing. The complaints claim that the defect, also known as wood rot, was caused because Segue chose to use cheaper materials to construct the balcony in 2005, making it more susceptible to water damage. Between Oct. 2008 and summer of 2010, the lawsuits allege, "Tenants observed large mushrooms growing from multiple locations on the surface of the apartment's balcony, an unambiguous red flag warning that the wooden joists were rotting and that the balcony was at great risk for collapse." the lawsuits also claim that a year before the June 16 collapse, the balcony “demonstrated an increased tilt away from the building” when people stood on it. That condition was reported to or seen by the building’s owners and managers, who again failed to take corrective action, the suits say. This is not the first time Segue Corporation has faced lawsuits over water damaged balconies that prematurely rotted and fell off buildings. The company paid more than $6 million to settle two previous lawsuits, according to court records. Investigators have conducted what they call "destructive testing" of the balcony that failed and are still analyzing evidence. The lawsuits are seeking unspecified damages.

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