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A Dallas County jury has awarded more than $860M in damages to the family of Kiersten Smith, a woman who was killed in 2019 by a crane collapse at a development by Greystar in the Old East Dallas neighborhood.
The jury found that Greystar, which is also the largest U.S. apartment manger, bore some responsibility for the incident. During a thunderstorm in June of that year, a tower crane at a new Greystar apartment development collapsed into the neighboring Elan City Lights apartment complex.
The crane crashed through Smith's apartment, killing her. Five other people were injured in the incident. Smith's parents were the plaintiffs in the suit.
The attorney for the plaintiffs argued that Greystar, among other things, had allowed the crane's inspection to lapse, and that it had installed a sign on top of the crane in violation of OSHA standards, KDFW reports. The jury agreed.
Also, the plaintiffs' attorney argued that Greystar was responsible for the overworked operator of the crane not leaving it in “weathervane mode,” which would have allowed it to move with the wind, rather than being blown over during the storm.
Greystar's attorneys argued that the incident was the responsibility of the crane company, Bigge Crane and Rigging, which is one of the largest businesses of its kind, and which had rented its crane to Greystar for the project. The jury did not find Bigge responsible for the collapse, however.
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