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Lawsuits claim conspiracy in Dallas Cowboys practice facility collapse
Tuesday, August 25, 2009 16:42 | Filed in Cowboy NewsComments OffBy BROOKS EGERTON / The Dallas Morning News
Two Dallas Cowboys employees who were seriously injured in the collapse of the team’s practice facility filed suit this morning against several companies involved in building or renovating the massive tent-like structure.
Lawsuits claim conspiracy in Dallas Cowboys practice facility collapse
Rich Behm and Joe DeCamillis accuse all the defendants of negligence and two of conspiracy – of knowing at least two years ago that the facility was unsafe and covering it up.
Prominent Dallas trial lawyer Frank Branson represents both Behm, a scouting aide who is permanently paralyzed below the waist, and special teams coach DeCamillis, who suffered a broken neck but escaped paralysis.
Their lawsuits, filed in Dallas County courts, are the first stemming from the Irving facility’s collapse during a thunderstorm on May 2. The suits are based on documents that some companies gave to Branson on the condition of confidentiality.
Branson said he had seen no indication that the Cowboys share blame for the disaster. He also said that Texas worker’s compensation law prevents him from suing the team.
Dallas-based Manhattan Construction is not a defendant, either. It was the general contractor for the facility, which was built in 2003, and for the team’s new stadium in Arlington.
Branson said he needs more information before deciding whether to add Manhattan and other companies to the list of defendants. Manhattan executives have said their role in building the tent was extremely limited.
The conspiracy allegations target:
• the steel-framed facility’s designer and manufacturer, Canada-based Cover-All Building Systems.
• its U.S. sales and construction affiliate, Summit Structures.
• the Las Vegas consulting firm JCI. As previously reported in The Dallas Morning News, JCI helped Cover-All and Summit design reinforcements for the tent after a building-collapse expert discovered engineering problems.
The facility underwent repairs in summer 2007 that the Cowboys believed were “a temporary fix,” the lawsuits say. They allege that Cover-All, Summit and JCI “were to design and install a permanent fix after the 2007 football season was over” but did not.
Instead, they “agreed to hide and conceal the practice facility’s shortcomings,” the suits say.
Dallas lawyer Tom Fee, who represents Cover-All and Summit, declined to comment today. JCI head Scott Jacobs has not responded to repeated interview requests from The News.
Nathan Stobbe, who heads Cover-All and Summit, has previously tried to focus attention on the storm that hit Irving on May 2. However, no other structures in the area suffered major damage that day.
Stobbe has also defended his company’s commitment to safety. Yet another of its big tent-like structures collapsed in early 2003, six weeks after opening and immediately following a snowstorm in Philadelphia.
The Cowboys hired Summit shortly thereafter, despite knowing about the Philadelphia collapse. A Pennsylvania judge ruled in 2006 that design and construction flaws were to blame in that case.
The suits filed today also target one Dallas-area company: Burleson-based Wrangler Concrete Construction, which built the facility’s foundation. It is accused of putting rebar “too close together.”
That allegedly led workers from Minnesota-based subcontractor Midwest Building and Fencing to make mistakes when drilling holes in the foundation and attaching steel to it.
Wrangler co-owner Brenda Robertson declined to comment on the claims. She said that Manhattan Construction hired her company as a subcontractor based on its solid track record.
“We’re not fly-by-night,” Robertson said. “We’ve been in business for 25 years.”
Midwest Building declined to comment. A company official who would not identify herself directed a reporter to call “our corporate office,” but she would not provide contact information and hung up.
The lawsuits do not specify how much money Behm and DeCamillis are seeking. Branson said he’d rely on “whatever a jury thinks is fair and reasonable.”
Both victims have returned to work and are trying to help the Cowboys succeed, the lawyer said.
“These are two very dedicated and very loyal employees,” he said. “We’re trying to make this as small a distraction from their work lives as possible.”
Tuesday, August 25, 2009 16:42 | Filed in Cowboy NewsComments OffBy BROOKS EGERTON / The Dallas Morning News
Two Dallas Cowboys employees who were seriously injured in the collapse of the team’s practice facility filed suit this morning against several companies involved in building or renovating the massive tent-like structure.
Lawsuits claim conspiracy in Dallas Cowboys practice facility collapse
Rich Behm and Joe DeCamillis accuse all the defendants of negligence and two of conspiracy – of knowing at least two years ago that the facility was unsafe and covering it up.
Prominent Dallas trial lawyer Frank Branson represents both Behm, a scouting aide who is permanently paralyzed below the waist, and special teams coach DeCamillis, who suffered a broken neck but escaped paralysis.
Their lawsuits, filed in Dallas County courts, are the first stemming from the Irving facility’s collapse during a thunderstorm on May 2. The suits are based on documents that some companies gave to Branson on the condition of confidentiality.
Branson said he had seen no indication that the Cowboys share blame for the disaster. He also said that Texas worker’s compensation law prevents him from suing the team.
Dallas-based Manhattan Construction is not a defendant, either. It was the general contractor for the facility, which was built in 2003, and for the team’s new stadium in Arlington.
Branson said he needs more information before deciding whether to add Manhattan and other companies to the list of defendants. Manhattan executives have said their role in building the tent was extremely limited.
The conspiracy allegations target:
• the steel-framed facility’s designer and manufacturer, Canada-based Cover-All Building Systems.
• its U.S. sales and construction affiliate, Summit Structures.
• the Las Vegas consulting firm JCI. As previously reported in The Dallas Morning News, JCI helped Cover-All and Summit design reinforcements for the tent after a building-collapse expert discovered engineering problems.
The facility underwent repairs in summer 2007 that the Cowboys believed were “a temporary fix,” the lawsuits say. They allege that Cover-All, Summit and JCI “were to design and install a permanent fix after the 2007 football season was over” but did not.
Instead, they “agreed to hide and conceal the practice facility’s shortcomings,” the suits say.
Dallas lawyer Tom Fee, who represents Cover-All and Summit, declined to comment today. JCI head Scott Jacobs has not responded to repeated interview requests from The News.
Nathan Stobbe, who heads Cover-All and Summit, has previously tried to focus attention on the storm that hit Irving on May 2. However, no other structures in the area suffered major damage that day.
Stobbe has also defended his company’s commitment to safety. Yet another of its big tent-like structures collapsed in early 2003, six weeks after opening and immediately following a snowstorm in Philadelphia.
The Cowboys hired Summit shortly thereafter, despite knowing about the Philadelphia collapse. A Pennsylvania judge ruled in 2006 that design and construction flaws were to blame in that case.
The suits filed today also target one Dallas-area company: Burleson-based Wrangler Concrete Construction, which built the facility’s foundation. It is accused of putting rebar “too close together.”
That allegedly led workers from Minnesota-based subcontractor Midwest Building and Fencing to make mistakes when drilling holes in the foundation and attaching steel to it.
Wrangler co-owner Brenda Robertson declined to comment on the claims. She said that Manhattan Construction hired her company as a subcontractor based on its solid track record.
“We’re not fly-by-night,” Robertson said. “We’ve been in business for 25 years.”
Midwest Building declined to comment. A company official who would not identify herself directed a reporter to call “our corporate office,” but she would not provide contact information and hung up.
The lawsuits do not specify how much money Behm and DeCamillis are seeking. Branson said he’d rely on “whatever a jury thinks is fair and reasonable.”
Both victims have returned to work and are trying to help the Cowboys succeed, the lawyer said.
“These are two very dedicated and very loyal employees,” he said. “We’re trying to make this as small a distraction from their work lives as possible.”