Rape victim sues contractor and architect

[URY914]

The contractors and architect PPOT members should see this one. This is a horrible story that happend here in the Tampa area. Now the victim is suing the architect and contractor. Seems she got out of the car to put her books in the drop box which led to her attack. This design allowed her to be raped. I would be willing to bet the drop was the thru-the-wall type and not a stand alone box. I would also be willing to bet that the thru-the-wall drop off is mandated by the County's own library design criteria. Once again- anyone can sue for anything.



Bloomingdale library rape victim sues architect, contractor
By HOWARD ALTMAN | The Tampa Tribune
Published: November 23, 2011
Updated: November 23, 2011 - 3:42 PM
TAMPA --
The family of the East Bay high school student who was brutally beaten and raped outside the Bloomingdale Regional Library in April 2008, is suing the companies that designed and built the facility where the attack occurred.

The victim, who was 17 at the time, suffered brain damage in the attack, is blind, and can't eat, walk or stand up without help. In the suit filed Nov. 14 in Hillsborough County, her family says the design and construction of the library, built in 2005, contributed to the attack.

The suit names Angle & Schmid Inc. of Largo, the general contractor, and FleischmanGarcia architects and planners of Tampa as defendants.

At issue is the design of the after-hours book drop – requiring patrons to exit their vehicles and walk to the after-hours container -- where Kendrick Morris first approached the victim.

The suit accuses FleischmanGarcia Architects and Planners of "negligent design, planning and construction" by creating "a latent hazard constituting an undue risk of harm."

The suit makes a similar accusation against Angle & Schmid, saying the general contractor "had a duty to evaluate and adequately assess the risks posed by the construction and mode of operation of the after-hours book drop so as to avoid any latent hazards" and "risk of harm" to those using the book-drop.

Bob Angle, president of Angle & Schmid, said his company is not responsible for the design.

"We built it exactly as shown on the documents," he said. "The architect determines how it should be done. Any design flaw someone feels was in that building, which may have somehow allowed some sort of hidden condition to exist allowing someone to commit a crime, is outside the realm of our responsibility."

A call to FleischmanGarcia was not immediately returned.

Morris was convicted in October 2010 of two counts of sexual battery and single counts of kidnapping and aggravated battery.

The plaintiffs are seeking in excess of $15,000 from each company.

[masraum]

This is really ridiculous. I hope it gets thrown out of court. I feel for the parents, but this suit is really frivolous.

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by masraum

This is really ridiculous. I hope it gets thrown out of court. I feel for the parents, but this suit is really frivolous.

And I hope the lawyer gets locked up for contempt for pursuing such a ridiculous suit.
But that'll never happen because judges are lawyers too.
They create and perpetuate the madness, all for the sake of $$$$

[Racerbvd]

Whats next, sue the city for putting a Library in a bad part of town??

[racer]

At least they are going for big money.. um $15K from each party? thats a minor shakedown hoping for a settlement.

[flatbutt]

Absurd...$15K? This is worth much more than that.

[wdfifteen]

"The victim, who was 17 at the time, suffered brain damage in the attack, is blind, and can't eat, walk or stand up without help."

I'll bet the $15k is a typo. More like $15 million.
On the face of it it sounds absurd to blame the architect. OTOH, if I were the caretaker I would grasp at any straw possible. She's young. It would bankrupt a middle income family to care for someone like that for the rest of her life. You may say, "So what?" but after all the money's gone, then what? Let her die? It may come down to SSI or medicaide (taxpayers) or the architect's insurance company paying the bills to keep her alive.

[URY914]

Originally Posted by Racerbvd

Whats next, sue the city for putting a Library in a bad part of town??

Actually it is in the suburbs and a new part of town.

[Aurel]

She could also sue the maker of the car that allowed her to go the the library where she got raped. And the builders of the road too...absurd!

[kach22i]

A little more detail in this version. Still obscene.

Bloomingdale library rape victim's family sues over 'inherently dangerous' book drop - St. Petersburg Times

[Dantilla]

If this was such a flawed design, any resonable person should recognize the danger and refuse to use the after hours drop.

The victim was neglegent for using such a dangerous building.

[Racerbvd]

Originally Posted by URY914

Actually it is in the suburbs and a new part of town.

I didn't mean in this case, but in general as library's are built (and should be) in all areas of town..

What time did this happen, maybe they will sue Daylights Saving Time...

[URY914]

A correct from my original post. The drop box is a seperate box, not a thru-the-wall of the building drop off. I saw a picture of the box at the library in question online. Sooooo it is the County library that provides the box, installs the box and decides where to place the box. But let's sue the A/E and G.C.

[Scuba Steve]

The people who did the rape are responsible. Go after them.

Yes, i realize they're probably broke, but they're the guilty party here.

[LeeH]

Her friend said she commented on the phone that she saw a weird guy before she got out of the car. I feel for her and her situation. Certainly not her fault, but to blame anyone but the rapist is ludicrous.

[andyt11]

^ +1

[cstreit]

My guess is the 15k is correct and they're hoping that it will just get paid off without going to court...

[masraum]

really, really sad, but this is still a very frivolous law suit.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Not uncommon. In a liability suit, EVERYONE gets a copy.

I know a guy who designed a bus shelter that got hit by a drunk driver, it partially collapsed due to the impact and a guy who was waiting for the bus got hurt. He got named in the suit. It cost him over $15,000 to get his name off of it. Absolutely no culpability on his part - the thing was designed to code, signed off, etc. and had been standing without any incidents for about three years.

This is one of the reasons it costs so damn much to hire us. E&O insurance is insane. One good thing about working for a developer - I'm glad I'm not stamping anything these days. I sleep better at night.

[dad911]

Originally Posted by Scuba Steve

The people who did the rape are responsible. Go after them.

Yes, i realize they're probably broke, but they're the guilty party here.

That's not how it works. Rapists have empty pockets. Everyone else has deep pockets, and insurance carriers that will rather pay a $15k bill than the expense on defending the case.

She probably will collect, more if it goes to a jury trial.

People don't understand how effed up the system is unless they have been sued.