Jury holds MTS partially responsible for 2017 platform collapse at Barrio Logan parkour gym – San Diego Union-Tribune

A San Diego jury on Wednesday returned a $1.25 million verdict against the Metropolitan Transit System and two of its tenants for the <a href=”https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2017/11/11/dozens-of-children-injured-in-stairwell-collapse-in-barrio-logan/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>2017 collapse of a platform</a> at a parkour gym that injured more than three dozen people, mostly children, inside a Barrio Logan warehouse owned by MTS.The verdict is on top of $4 million that the transit agency and its tenants previously agreed to pay to settle legal claims brought by more than 40 plaintiffs who were injured when the <a href=”https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2017/11/16/barrio-logan-gym-where-platform-collapsed-injuring-children-had-no-building-permits/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>unpermitted platform collapsed</a>, according to attorneys for some of the plaintiffs.”This case was always about keeping the community safe from dangerous conditions on publicly owned property,” Tim Scott, an attorney for the plaintiffs, from the firm McKenzie Scott, said in a statement Thursday. “MTS and other public landlords cannot ignore code violations on their property that endanger the public. We hope that this verdict, along with the previous settlements on behalf of our clients, help emphasize that message.”<a href=”https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2017/11/15/parents-children-injured-in-collapse-at-barrio-logan-gym-await-answers/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>The collapse</a> occurred Nov. 11, 2017, at Vault PK on Main Street near Sigsbee Street. At least 23 people were taken to hospitals by ambulance while others drove themselves to seek medical care, San Diego Fire-Rescue officials said at the time.A <a href=”https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2017/11/16/barrio-logan-gym-where-platform-collapsed-injuring-children-had-no-building-permits/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>city report issued days after the collapse</a> found that Vault PK and other businesses operating in the warehouse had not been issued any building permits. San Diego city and fire inspectors found that the platform that fell was improperly constructed, as were walls, mezzanines, stairs, partitions, restrooms, locker rooms and offices throughout the space, according to the report.The warehouse also didn’t have the right number of exits or the appropriate number of bathrooms, the fire sprinkler system was inoperable and certain areas didn’t have sprinklers at all, according to the report. There were serious structural deficiencies as well, including damaged fire walls and a support column that could have led to a roof collapse.Evidence presented in the civil suit in San Diego Superior Court indicated that beginning in April 2017, Vault PK began to sublease its portion of the warehouse from San Diego Sports Entertainment Center, which operated a paintpall business and CrossFit gym and had leased a portion of the warehouse from MTS since 2014.The plaintiffs alleged that MTS’s manager of real estate assets and MTS’s property manager for the warehouse were both aware that San Diego Sports Entertainment Center and its subtenants were operating without proper building or occupancy permits.On the night of the platform collapse, a Saturday, Vault PK had run a Groupon promotion that had attracted a large crowd of families, many of whom were atop the platform waiting in line for pizza.”That evening, parents and children gathered atop the mezzanine, blissfully unaware that it had never received — much less passed — safety inspections,” Scott and his colleague Nicolas Jimenez wrote in a trial brief. “A cracking sound suddenly pierced the air, and the platform collapsed under the weight of its occupants. More than 40 people, mostly children, plummeted to the concrete below.”Surveillance footage of the incident appears to show there were no warning signs before the collapse. Those that fell to the ground roughly 15 feet below “suffered broken bones, lacerated skin, and other physical and emotional trauma,” the plaintiffs’ attorneys wrote.The lead plaintiff, a teacher and mother of three, suffered a spinal injury that required emergency surgery to place two rods and eight screws onto her spine.”MTS knew about the platform for months,” the trial brief alleged. “MTS also knew that it had been constructed without proper permits and with no safety inspections. Though it was the owner and landlord of the property, MTS did nothing to keep the public away from the known dangerous condition. It chose to continue collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars in rent instead.”During a 2022 trial, a jury returned a verdict against two of the building’s tenants, but the judge dismissed MTS from the case mid-trial after the transit agency argued the evidence was insufficient to prove it was liable for the platform collapse or the related injuries.Last year, a three-judge panel from California’s 4th District Court of Appeal reversed the trial judge’s dismissal of MTS, ruling that the plaintiffs had presented enough evidence that a jury should weigh whether MTS could be held liable.”The fact that MTS itself had no role in building the platform does not preclude liability … if MTS had notice of the dangerous condition, with sufficient time to protect against it,” the appeals court judges wrote.An MTS spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday afternoon.