Seven Dead in Philadelphia Building Collapse: $227 Million Settlement Closes Longest Civil Trial in City History

On June 5, 2013, a demolition crew was tearing down a four-story commercial building at 22nd and Market Streets in Center City Philadelphia. The project moved too fast and without adequate safety controls. A massive section of brick wall collapsed outward and fell directly onto the adjacent Salvation Army Family Thrift Store, crushing customers and employees inside.

Seven people died: Anne Bryan, 24; Mary Simpson, 24; Roseline Conteh, 52; Danny Johnson, 59; Borbor Davis, 68; Juanita Harmon, 75; and Kimberly Finnegan. Twelve others were injured. The collapse was later shown to be entirely preventable. Records produced during litigation revealed that Basciano's company had sent at least five emails to the Salvation Army in the weeks before the collapse, warning of a 'threat to life and limb' and the possibility of an 'uncontrolled collapse.' Those warnings went unheeded.

Nineteen plaintiffs, the families of the seven deceased and a portion of the survivors, filed suit against six defendants, including building owner and real estate developer Richard Basciano, his representative Plato Marinakos, and the Salvation Army itself. Wapner Newman attorneys Steven G. Wigrizer and Jason S. Weiss represented a group of the plaintiffs, working alongside co-counsel from Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky.

The civil trial before Judge Teresa M. Sarmina ran for nearly six months, making it what observers called the longest civil trial in Philadelphia history. Jurors heard testimony about the demolition plan, the warning emails, and the sequence of failures that left shoppers in the path of a collapsing wall. The jury returned a liability verdict against the defendants. Before the panel could complete its damages evaluation, the parties reached a settlement.

On February 8, 2017, a $227 million agreement was announced, the largest personal-injury settlement ever recorded in Pennsylvania. Individual allocations among the 19 plaintiffs were to be determined by a court-appointed arbitrator. No verdict was reduced on appeal because the case resolved by settlement. The Salvation Army bore the largest share of the total amount, with additional contributions from Basciano and other defendants.