New York City was sanctioned $5,000 yesterday for failing to comply with discovery orders issued in two wrongful death cases stemming from the 2008 crane collapse on East 91st Street. Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Paul G. Feinman (See Profile) imposed the sanction, citing the city’s failure to comply with a series of orders relating to the testing and preservation of the crane. Overall, Justice Feinman wrote, the city “has demonstrated a pattern of willful and contumacious conduct” related to discovery orders in the cases. The city was fined $2,500 in each of the two cases brought by families of those killed in the May 30, 2008, accident.
The city was named as a defendant in the lawsuit because it owned land at the site where the crane collapsed and because the Department of Buildings is responsible for regulating crane operators, said Susan M. Karten, who is representing the family of Ramadan Kurtaj, who was inspecting sewer pipes at the time of the incident. Other defendants included the company that owned the crane, New York Crane and Equipment Corporation, and its principal, James F. Lomma. Last month Mr. Lomma, one of his employees and two of his companies were indicted on manslaughter charges in connection with the accident.
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