SouthPark fire: Construction companies could blame victims for not escaping

CHARLOTTE — The companies building the SouthPark apartments where two workers died in a massive fire may claim the victims were negligent as part of a legal defense.

Earlier this year, the families of the two men filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the site’s developer the contractor, and its subcontractors.

Channel 9 has learned attorneys for several of the companies named may use what’s called a “contributory negligence defense.” According to our partners at the Charlotte Observer, that means if the companies are found negligent for the fire, then they could try to claim the victims were also negligent for not escaping.

That could mean the victims’ families might not get financial compensation at all.

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This legal defense is allowed only in four states, including North Carolina, and Washington, D.C.

The accidental fire on May 18, 2023 started in a spray insulation foam trailer on the ground floor of the under-construction apartment complex. Demonte Sherrill and Reuben Holmes died trapped on the sixth floor of the building.

An investigation found the building lacked code-required water connections, which would have helped firefighters get it under control.

Two companies involved in the construction already reached a settlement with the North Carolina Department of Labor. The DOL fined MCRT Carolinas more than $56,000.

Baker Insulation was also fined.

In their lawsuit, the families of Holmes and Sherrill sued Mill Creek Residential, the site’s developer; MCRT Carolinas Construction, the contractor; and its subcontractors, alleging that a series of their failures led to the workers’ deaths. Those companies are claiming they could argue that the two workers were negligent for failing to evacuate and care for their own safety.

Attorney Mike Daisley isn’t working this case but explained what the contributory negligence defense, or “contrib,” is.

“Contrib is simply a defense to the claim of negligence, and what it says is that if an injured party by his or her own careless behavior contributed to their injury or harm, then in North Carolina, they are barred from any recovery at all,” he said.

Responses filed by the families state, “The circumstances surrounding the fire on May 18, 2023, demonstrate conclusively that at no point did Sherrill and Holmes have the ability, awareness, or practical opportunity to alter the course of events leading to the tragic outcome of their death.”

Another example of contrib found on a North Carolina personal injury law firm’s website states, “If a pedestrian is struck by a car while jaywalking, the pedestrian’s act of jaywalking, even if the driver was speeding or distracted, could be considered contributory negligence.”

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