Hartline Barger Secures Victory in Two-Week Wrongful Death Trial

Hartline Barger secured a trial victory in Dallas County after attorneys Darrell Barger and Anna Dodds successfully defended their client—Bigge Crane and Rigging Co.—in a two-week wrongful death trial.

The case arose from a June 2019 incident when severe weather in Dallas caused a crane to collapse on an apartment building, resulting in one death and injuries to several others. During the trial, Barger and Dodds established that the crane operator provided by Bigge was working as a borrowed employee of the co-defendant Greystar Development and Construction LLC, and the accident was not caused by anything their client did. Greystar denied that the crane operator was its borrowed employee and contended that it was not responsible at all for the incident that occurred on its worksite. Plaintiffs argued that the crane operator was negligent for failing to weathervane the crane before the storm, which would have allowed it to swing with the wind. Instead, the greater than 70 mph winds caused the crane to collapse and kill their 29-year-old daughter. After two weeks of testimony, the jury ultimately agreed with Bigge and cleared it of any wrongdoing. Co-defendant Greystar was found 100% responsible and was ordered to pay $860 million.