The lawsuit was filed Thursday in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland by a team of attorneys representing American Publishing LLC, a company owned by the woman and her husband. They claim in court documents that April profits plummeted as a direct result of Key Bridge. Collapse.
The lawsuit is filed as a class action lawsuit and seeks to include all other businesses and individuals affected by the disaster.
Roy Mason, one of the lead attorneys in the case, said in an interview that if certified, the class could include thousands of businesses in the affected areas.
Mason called the story of American Publishing and its owners Karen and Charles Austin “a precursor.”
“The community seemed surprised by what happened,” Mason said.
The class action lawsuit alleges that Dali’s owner, Grace Ocean Private Limited, and its operator, Synergy Marine, knowingly allowed the “unseaworthy” vessel to leave port. Lawyers for American Publishing argue that the decision negates the companies’ claims. A few weeks ago, it announced that its financial liability for the bankruptcy should be limited to $43.6 million.
Spokespeople for Synergy Marine and Grace Ocean did not respond to requests for comment.
Documents to be submitted In recent weeks, as the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland launched a criminal investigation, and maritime lawyers began working with civil and government lawyers to seek accountability in court for the March 26 crash. A flurry of court action is underway.
Earlier this week, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott (D) and attorneys representing the City Council said in court documents also filed in Maryland federal court on behalf of Baltimore residents that the bridge collapse was It said it was caused by “negligence on the part of the ship’s crew and on shore.” management. “
So far, only two companies have responded in court to the joint petition filed by Grace Ocean and Synergy Marine in early April: the city and American Publishing. But expect more activity in the coming weeks and months.
Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown, a Democrat, said in a statement Wednesday that his office is “preparing for litigation” and has appointed a special assistant attorney general to lead the effort. Brown said he is working with maritime lawyers on an interim basis until a permanent outside defense team is selected next week.
On Wednesday, Brown and a team of maritime experts from his office spent about 10 hours aboard the Dali to inspect the wreckage and examine the damage and contents, his office said in a statement.
For the past month, Dali’s crew, mostly Indian and Sri Lankan, have been on board the giant ship while National Transportation Safety Board, Coast Guard and FBI agents searched the ship and conducted interviews. Still on the container ship.
The NTSB investigation began immediately after the crash, and officials said the agency expected to release a preliminary report on its own investigation in early May.
Separately, the FBI obtained a search warrant and boarded the ship on April 15, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice. Federal authorities have not said what they were searching for on board the ship, but a faith-based advocacy group called the Seamen’s Church Institute said in a statement Thursday that the FBI was searching for crew members as part of an ongoing investigation. He said his mobile phone was confiscated.
A month after the crash, much remains unknown about Dali’s crew. The Seafarers’ Church Institute said in a statement that its staff were able to come on board in early April and have since sent a team of chaplains fluent in Hindi and Tamil. The chaplains worked with the Coast Guard to obtain replacement cellphones to help the crew feel less “isolated” and “communicate with loved ones,” SCI said in a statement. .
Andrew Middleton, head of the local chapter of the Sea Apostles, said inspectors from the ITF seafarers’ union and representatives from the Sri Lankan union were in Baltimore on Wednesday.
The families of at least the surviving victim of the Key Bridge collapse, Julio Adrian Cervantes Suarez, and two of the dead, Alejandro Hernández Fuentes and Jose Lopez, have been contacted by trial attorneys Stewart Miller Simmons and Kreindler. It has retained an attorney from & Kreindler, but has not yet filed anything in court. Fuentes and Lopez died after falling into the Patapsco River. Cervantes also falls into the frigid sea, and is the only survivor.
Thursday’s class action complaint cites the same Associated Press article mentioned in the Baltimore City claim, in which a person described as “a person familiar with the situation” claims that the Dali was in Baltimore. He told the publication that an alarm in the ship’s refrigerated containers went off while it was at anchor.
Neither provided detailed other evidence to support their claims of negligence.
Lawyers for the Austins wrote in their filing that when comparing April 2023 to April 2024, the publishing business’s revenue was down 84%. American Publishing has been in business since 2007, producing a military directory for local military families and an accompanying cybersecurity magazine. Court documents say the focus was on working with and advertising local businesses that were also affected by the collapse.
