Source: http://www.bizjournals.com, August 3, 2015
By: Jeff Jeffrey
The engineering firm behind two collapsed bridges at Wake Tech’s Northern Campus is suing its insurance company, arguing that the insurer should help cover legal bills stemming from several lawsuits filed against the firm – including one filed by the family of a worker who was killed when the bridges collapsed in November.
Stewart Engineering Inc. argues in a July 31 complaint that a professional liability insurance policy it purchased from Continental Casualty Co., the primary subsidiary of CNA Financial Corp. (NYSE: CNA), requires the insurer to indemnify the engineering firm and to provide a defense against lawsuits stemming from its professional work. The complaint was filed in the federal court in Raleigh.
Wake Technical Community College hired Stewart Engineering in 2013 to design two pedestrian bridges, which were supposed to allow students to walk between parking facilities and campus buildings like the college’s Building F library facility that were otherwise separated by the Neuse River. The first bridge collapsed Nov. 13 as workers poured the concrete slab. The collapse killed Jose Luis Rosales-Nava, 42 and injured four other workers.
The second bridge collapsed the next day. No workers were working on the second bridge at the time of its collapse, and there were no reported injuries.
In May, the N.C. Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Division determined flaws in the bridges’ design led to their collapse. The department did not fine Stewart Engineering because it does not regulate engineering.

Not long after the two bridges collapsed, the families of Rosales-Nava and the injured workers filed separate lawsuits against the engineering firm, seeking more than $13 million in combined damages.

Stewart Engineering has also been sued by Skanska USA Building Inc., the general contractor for the two bridge projects, and the contractor’s insurer, Zurich American Insurance Co. Skanska and Zurich claim Stewart Engineering owes them more than $4.8 million in damages as a result of the bridge collapses, according to court records.

Stewart Engineering says in the complaint that its insurance policy provides coverage for up to $5 million in aggregate coverage.

However, the complaint alleges CNA has moved to restrict its obligation to just $3 million under the policy’s single-claim limit.

Stewart Engineering accuses CNA of breaching its contractual obligations under the insurance policy. The firm is asking for a court order instructing CNA to provide up to $5 million in coverage, in addition to further damages and attorneys’ fees.

Stewart Engineering’s attorney Stephen Safran of Raleigh declined to comment on the lawsuit.

No attorneys have entered an appearance on behalf of CNA. CNA spokesman Brandon Davis says the company “does not comment on claim matters or matters involving litigation.”