The families of six Irish students who died and seven who were injured when a balcony collapsed in California this summer are to take legal action against companies connected to the building.
Relatives of the 13 victims are seeking punitive damages from 35 named defendants in relation to the incident, which happened on 16 June on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley.
A parallel criminal inquiry into the balcony collapse is also under way. Investigators in Berkley said the balcony of Library Gardens fell due to rotting joists caused by dry rot and water damage.
The cases are being taken against various property and building firms associated with the apartment block, including its owner, Blackrock, builder Segue Construction, and the management company Greystar.
The law firm handling the case, Walkup, Melodia, Kelly & Schoenberger, said: “Our clients have authorised the filing of these claims with the hope that this litigation will bring to light the carelessness and negligence that caused this entirely avoidable tragedy that has produced so much pain and loss, both here and in Ireland.”
The lawyers will point to claims made by previous tenants that mushrooms seen growing around the balcony’s wooden joints should have acted as a red flag about the danger of a collapse.
The six students who died – Lorcan Miller, Eoghan Culligan, Nick Schuster, Ashley Donohoe, Eimear Walsh and Olivia Burke – were celebrating the 21st birthday of Aoife Beary, who was also injured.
The friends were working in California on the J1 student visa programme, which allows Irish students to work in the US for the summer.
