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In 2012, Miami-Dade College greenlit the construction of a parking garage for one of its campuses. One day during construction, the boom of a crane impacted a column of the parking garage. The work stopped immediately. The crane was inspected, repaired, and certified to commence work two days later. On that day, the crane had successfully raised a concrete spandrel and held it in preparation for it to be attached to the structure. The spandrel, however, never had the chance to be attached. Suddenly, the final four bays of the garage began to fall forward and down in a waving motion. Ultimately, all six floors fell into the center of that quadrant of the parking garage. Four workers died and seven more were injured.
Take Florida International University. Like Miami-Dade College, Florida International University is an ever- expanding international institution invested in its home community of South Florida. While the majority of the student population are commuters, several apartment buildings have sprouted up across the street from the main campus. In 2018, Florida International University arranged for the construction of a pedestrian footbridge over a busy road to connect the main campus to these growing neighborhoods.
The main truss for the bridge was cast at an off-site location and installed over the piers. Over the next five days, cracks formed and grew in several parts of the truss. The engineers for the project noticed the cracks, but did not believe they presented safety issues. Neither the authorities were not notified about the cracks nor was the busy street below closed. On the fifth day, the bridge collapsed on motorists waiting at a red light killing five motorists, one worker, and critically injuring another worker.
Considering the effects a construction accident like those of the Miami-Dade College parking garage or the Florida International University pedestrian bridge has, construction negligence lawsuits may have many plaintiffs. Those injured in the accident may bring claims not only for their directly caused injuries, but under Florida law, the injured may bring claims for emotional distress caused by the physical injuries. While most bystanders to these traumatizing accidents may not be able to recover damages, any bystander that is relationally close to the person directly injured may bring claims for physical injuries caused by their emotional distress from observing their loved one be injured.
Wrongful Death
The Florida legislature has provided a cause of action for wrongful death. See § 768.19, Fla. Stat. Under the Wrongful Death Act, if a decedent’s death is caused by another person’s wrongful act, negligence, default, or breach of contract or warranty and the decedent if still living would have been able to bring a cause of action to recover damages from that other person’s wrongful act, the decedent’s personal representative may bring a cause of action to recover damages. Laizure v. Avante at Leesburg, Inc., 109 So. 3d 752, 758 (Fla. 2013) (citing § 768.19, Fla. Stat.). Any actions for the personal injury do not survive the death of the decedent and any pending actions abate at the time of death. Id. (citing § 768.20, Fla. Stat.).
While the personal representative is the only party who can bring suit, the personal representative must seek recovery in that suit for all claims on behalf of both the decedent’s estate and the individual survivors. § 768.20, Fla. Stat. In other words, the Act requires only one suit, but allows multiple parties to recover. See id. The decedent’s estate may recover damages for the loss of net accumulations, the decedent’s lost earnings, and the decedent’s medical and funeral expenses. See § 768.21 Fla. Stat.
Damages
The survivors may recover loss of support and services, loss of the decedent’s companionship and protection, mental pain and suffering, lost parental companionship, instruction, and guidance, and medical and
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