Woman injured by falling crane piece in downtown Fort Lauderdale files lawsuit

One of the two people hospitalized after a portion of a crane fell from a high-rise construction site in downtown Fort Lauderdale earlier this month has filed a lawsuit seeking more than $50 million in damages from the companies overseeing the project.

The lawsuit was filed Thursday on behalf of Gemmalyn Castillo, 37, attorneys Judd Rosen and Brett Rosen announced at a news conference Friday. The attorneys said Castillo was riding as a rear passenger in the Tesla that the piece of the crane fell on top of before then landing on top of another car on the Southeast Third Avenue bridge over the New River.

The piece of the crane fell from the construction site of the Gables Riverwalk apartment building at 333 N. New River Drive E. Construction worker Jorge De La Torre, 27, died after he fell off the side of the building when a platform that held equipment failed.

Castillo and three others were “directly involved” in the incident: Carol Zinser, 69; Mark Cerezin, 56; and Gregory Garcia, 43, Fort Lauderdale Police said.

Kast Construction LLC, Maxim Crane Works LP, Phoenix Rigging & Erecting LLC, are all subjects of an ongoing Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigation into the incident and are defendants in the lawsuit. CG Riverwalk LP, the property owner of the site, and Gables Residential Services Inc., the property developer, are also defendants in the lawsuit.

Castillo’s attorneys allege in the complaint that the five companies’ negligence and failures were manifold, including that Kast Construction placed the project “on a time setting that was unreasonable, dangerous” and rushed, that they failed to re-route traffic away from the drawbridge underneath while assembling the crane and that “it should have been obvious” to the three construction companies that if the crane failed in some way, “there would be serious and significant ramifications,” among other allegations.

Maxim Crane Works was hired by Kast Construction for the use and assembly of the crane at the site, according to the complaint. The attorneys allege, in part, that Maxim Crane Works did not properly supervise or inspect the installing and building of the crane.

Judd Rosen said at the news conference Friday that Phoenix Rigging & Erecting “may have been involved” in the process of stepping the crane, where sections are added to a tower crane to elevate it as a building’s height increases.

Castillo, a mother of four and teacher at Quiet Waters Elementary School in Deerfield Beach, was knocked unconscious in the Tesla once the piece fell, Brett Rosen said, and she woke up with a bloody injury on her head. She has been diagnosed with “organic brain damage” and has permanent scars on her face as a result, the attorney said.

“She has not been back to work, and unfortunately, we don’t know when or if she will,” Brett Rosen said.

Judd Rosen said the failure was “predictable” because of past complaints about the construction site from residents in the area and referenced a previous breach of contract lawsuit that Kast Construction filed against property owner CG Riverwalk last year pertaining to the site, which has since been dismissed. Kast Construction wrote in its 2023 complaint against CG Riverwalk that the project “is located on an extremely small site given the size of the project, surrounded on all sides against a bridge, 2 buildings and a narrow street along the New River.”

“Living in a society like we do … a booming society here in South Florida, safety has to come first when they’re doing these construction projects. This gentleman didn’t have to die, our client didn’t have to suffer these horrific injuries, if only safety protocols were followed,” Judd Rosen said.

OSHA records show Kast Construction was cited for two different projects outside of South Florida where workers were exposed to a “fall hazard,” including a site in Sarasota where “employees were exposed to a 129-foot fall hazard, in that, the east side top and mid rails of the guardrail system were missing on the 18th floor,” the OSHA citation said.

Gary Grayson, a resident who lived nearby, complained to OSHA multiple times times in 2023 about concrete from the site falling near his condo building, the South Florida Sun Sentinel previously reported .

“Do something before someone gets killed, and the Sun-Sentinel reports on it,” Grayson wrote in one email to the agency. “Only 39 more floors to go. What could go wrong? The other side of this project is the 3rd Ave bridge.”

“This construction project was reported to federal authorities and somebody even said, ‘Do something before someone gets killed’ … What else is someone supposed to do other than report it to OSHA and put some faith and trust in the developers?” Judd Rosen said.

‘Do something before someone gets killed’: OSHA had received complaints about Fort Lauderdale construction site where crane part fell

Attorneys and representatives for the companies named as defendants did not respond to voicemails or emails seeking comment Friday.

An OSHA spokesperson did not immediately know whether construction has resumed normal operations since the incident.

Sun Sentinel staff writers Shira Moolten and Abigail Hasebroock contributed to this report.