Our firm represented Jennifer Piggott, an employee of Hyundai supplier Hwashin America Corporation, in a claim against Gray Construction, Inc., and other Defendants arising out of a roof collapse at the Hwashin facility in Greenville, Alabama. We alleged that Gray Construction, the general contractor, negligently designed and constructed the facility in such a manner as to have a defective roof structure. The roof of the building did not have a proper drain system. Gray Construction filed a third party complaint in the lawsuit and named several subcontractors as Third Party Defendants based on their negligence and indemnity agreements.

In its third party complaint, Defendant Gray alleged that certain subcontractors failed to design and install a primary and secondary drainage system capable of draining the office roof. Gray made other claims regarding the design, specifications and inspections of the structural roof, joists, structural steel support and framing of the Hwashin facility.

The roof of a building collapsing like it did in this case is almost incomprehensible. Mrs. Piggott was working at her desk, doing her job, when the roof collapsed during a heavy rain. She was struck by the falling materials. It was a miracle that she was not electrocuted by all the electrical wiring located near her along with the rain water that came in after the roof collapsed on her.

The roof collapse severely injured Mrs. Piggott. She was required to have emergency back surgery due to a burst fracture of the L5 vertebral body, which caused significant bone injury in the spinal canal. An emergency decompressive laminectomy of L5 was performed with fusion of L4-5 and L5-S1. She was required to wear a back brace for several months. She incurred significant medical expenses and lost time from work. Mrs. Piggott was required to see a pain management specialist because of the severe pain she was having as a result of her injuries.

The case was filed in Butler County, Alabama, and removed to federal court by Defendant Gray. The case was settled after being remanded from federal court to the Circuit Court of Butler County, Alabama. Julia Beasley handled this case for the firm and did a very good job for her clients, Mr. and Mrs. Piggott. The amount of the settlement is confidential.

Other Related Articles

• Roof Crush Settlement with Ford Motor Co.
• Collapsed training facility builder had three other buildings collapse
• Settlement Reached For Minnesota Bridge Collapse Victims
• Settlement of roof crush case
• Roof Crush Case Settled