The family of a 34-year-old Nicaraguan man who fell to his death in an elevator shaft while remodeling the former AT&T building in downtown Kansas City has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the building’s owner, staffing company and contractors.
Jose Rodolfo Garcia-Sanchez’s wife, Claudia Sugey Silva Pozo of Leon, Nicaragua, and his two children filed the lawsuit Friday in Jackson County Circuit Court. They are seeking an unspecified amount in damages, including lost earnings, funeral expenses and loss of support and companionship.
The list of defendants includes The Bernstein Co., the building’s owner and developer; Welltower-affiliated entities; Kansas City’s Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority; several property management firms; PARIC, the general contractor; the staffing agency Infinity Resources Enterprises, and New Horizons Enterprises LLC, the asbestos abatement contractor, as well as other firms involved in the project’s design and electrical work, and several individuals.
Officials with New Horizons Enterprises did respond to requests for comment.
Fatal fall in elevator shaft
The family contends that the worksite was unsafe, saying Garcia-Sanchez and his coworkers worked in near-total darkness because of inadequate lighting, and that the defendants mishandled elevator safety, including the elevator’s emergency phone, which was inoperable…