Judith Landis of
Lighthouse Point filed the lawsuit. She had to bury her son,
Samuel Landis, after parts of the former Marlborough House
building formed a concrete shower as he stood on Collins
Avenue on July 23 while working for AlliedBean Demolition.
The 46-year-old father of a teenage daughter lost a leg and
died 11 days later from his injuries.
Defendants in the lawsuit include Miami Beach Associates,
which bought the Marlborough House to tear it down and build
a new condominium; general contractor Winmar Construction;
and the subcontractors that handled the demolition,
AlliedBean Demolition and AA Demolition Management.
“This was a terrible tragedy,” Miami Beach Associates
Manager Marcelo Kingston said via e-mail. “Our hearts remain
with the Landis family over their loss.”
A reporter calling AlliedBean and asking for either
director, Liliana Alvarez or Kevin Bean, was given Bean’s
email address. He had not returned an email as of Tuesday
afternoon.
The agent listed with the state for Lake Wales-based AA
Demolition, Donald Dority, said he had nothing to do with
this demolition and knew nothing about it.
Samuel Landis worked in construction and demolition for
almost 20 years and ran his own demolition company for 10
years. Judith Landis’ attorney, Steven Osber of Conrad &
Scherer, said Samuel Landis “might have had some supervisory
responsibilities over some aspects of the demolition.”
But, Osber said, “Being experienced in demolition, he would
not have put himself in harm’s way if he knew the method by
which they would take down this building.”
The method forms the meat of the lawsuit.
Miami Beach
Associates’ application for an implosion-demolition permit
in August 2017 was rejected, City Building Director Ana
Salgueiro said in July, because implosions aren’t allowed in
Miami Beach. A regular demolition permit was issued in April
2018 for destruction by “conventional methods.” |
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In this head-on view of the former Marlborough
House's demolition, you can see the debris strike the person later
identified as AlliedBean's project manager and the manager
unconscious when the dust clears.
|
The “Description of Work” on the work permit says “Total demolition of
multi-family residential structure by conventional method. No longer using
the implosion method.”
That page is signed by Miami Beach Associates’ Kingston and Winmar
Construction President Luis Leon.
Conventional demolition, the lawsuit notes, “typically involves a crane,
excavator or wrecking ball and starts at the top of the building, working
its way down. Contrarily, implosion demolition involves either the use of
explosives or the non-explosive implosion method of the removal of
structural components of the building...”
But implosion was used on July 23. The lawsuit says AlliedBean and AA
Demolition went for “tripping the building,” yanking the supports out from
under the building.
“This intended plan was not authorized by the city, but was illegally
authorized and/or approved by all of the defendants, who collectively agreed
that it was to be performed surreptitiously, in contumacious disregard of
the City of Miami Beach ordinances and despite the authorized method set
forth in the approved building permit,” the lawsuit says.
The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA) investigated the incident and proposed $17,590 in fines after finding
two violations classified as serious. The majority of the fine was for not
doing inspections throughout the demolition process to find problems in
weakened building materials that could endanger workers.
After a settlement, AlliedBean Demolition is paying $12,324.
OSHA’s Accident Investigation summary said, “At 12:00 p.m. on July 23, 2018,
an employee was observing the demolition of the building. The employee was
struck and killed by two chunks of concrete that was flung across the street
as the building collapsed. The employee was struck on the leg and in the
chest by pieces of concrete measuring approximately 40 inches by 32 inches
by 14 inches.”