In what is believed to be the largest award for a personal injury claim in North Carolina history, a jury awarded $101 million in damages to two Hendersonville masons who were severely injured, and one of them permanently disabled, when a retaining wall collapsed on them in 2021.
A Henderson County Superior Court jury awarded $45 million each to Adan Rendon Hernandez, 34, and Magno Alberto “Beto” Valdez Sanchez, 39, for personal injury May 19, according to a copy of the verdict sheet provided to the Times-News by Rendon’s attorney Brian Davis.
The jury also awarded $11 million to Valdez’s wife, Maria Guadalupe “Lupita” Aguillón Guerrero, finding that Hajoca Plumbing Supply and manager Andrew Weymouth were responsible for the loss of “the consortium of her spouse,” meaning damage to their marital relationship stemming from Valdez’s injury, which left him with permanent physical and neurological damage.
Another worker, Marcelino Godofredo Rendon Hernandez, 37, was killed in the accident and a fourth, Colby Bradley, was also seriously injured. Marcelino Rendon’s estate and Bradley also filed suits but settled before going to trial, according to Davis.
“This is a huge validation by the people of Henderson County … The community saying, ‘follow the safety rules in the county, and even if you’re a giant corporation, you still have to do that. You can’t just put people’s safety at risk,’” said Davis, speaking on behalf of his client, Adan Rendon, who he said didn’t wish to comment.
“The jury got it right. They applied the law and the facts, and they came up with a just and fair verdict,” John McCabe, an attorney for Valdez and Aguillón, told the Times-News May 21 on behalf of his clients, adding they didn’t wish to comment.
“(Valdez) is physically and mentally damaged for the rest of his life … he will never be the same ever again,” McCabe told the Times-News May 22.
Valdez was unable to return to physical labor because of his disability but had found work in another industry, which McCabe declined to specify.
“I commend Hendersonville. It took a lot of courage for the jurors to do what they did,” Meredith Hinton, an attorney who represented Bradley and was also part of Valdez and Adan Rendon’s trial team, told the Times-News May 22.
Michelle Clifton, an attorney who represented Marcelino Rendon’s estate, couldn’t be reached May 22.
The masons were members of a five-person crew working at the base of a newly rebuilt retaining wall at Hajoca, a plumbing supply company and showroom at 1027 Spartanburg Highway in Hendersonville, Jan. 13, 2021, the Times-News previously reported.
Hajoca, based in Maine and headquartered in Pennsylvania, is the largest privately held wholesale plumbing, heating and industrial supply wholesaler in the U.S., according to court documents. Hajoca also has one location in Asheville and another in Charlotte.
The three injured workers and the estate of the fourth, Marcelino Rendon, 37, sued Hajoca Plumbing Supply, Weymouth, the property owner W.D. Building Rentals and Pinnacle Grading for negligence in October 2022, according to court documents.
Claims against W.D. Building Rentals and Pinnacle Grading were later voluntarily dismissed, according to Davis and court documents.
W.D. Building Rentals’ attorney Robert G. Lewis and Pinnacle Grading, which represented itself and appears to now be defunct, couldn’t be reached May 22.
Plaintiffs allege cut corners led to deadly accident
A retaining wall along the Hajoca property had previously collapsed in the fall of 2020 during a storm and Hajoca, Weymouth and W.D. Building Rentals repaired it without an engineering and structural design analysis, according to the 2022 complaint.
That was despite the insistence of the owner of the property on the other side of the retaining wall that experts be brought in for the repair. The neighboring property owner ultimately signed over deed to the strip of land to W.D. Building Rentals to avoid being involved, according to the complaint.
The complaint alleges that Hajoca, which oversaw the wall-building project, never consulted with an expert or filed for a permit to rebuild the wall, in order to reduce their costs, though a permit was required.
The complaint alleges that Weymouth and Hajoca didn’t wait long enough for the concrete inside the wall to cure before putting it under load by backfilling it with 210 tons of dirt.
Weymouth and Hajoca used dirt, which absorbs and holds water, rather than gravel to backfill the wall, allegedly because it was cheaper, according to the complaint.
Workers suffered severe injuries trapped under collapsed wall
On Jan. 13, 2021, the masonry crew returned to the site, two weeks after completing the 9-foot, 8-inch-high wall and after the space behind it was later filled with dirt, to do finishing work in the parking lot near the wall.
The wall fell suddenly, burying the workers under tons of cinderblock, reinforced concrete and dirt.
Adan Rendon suffered fractures to his femur and a crushing injury to his right leg, as well as post-traumatic stress disorder and other injuries, according to the complaint.
Valdez suffered severe internal injuries, “massive” acute blood loss and multiple severe fractures to his face, jaw, foot and pelvis, according to a second complaint in the lawsuit against Hajoca and codefendants.
“Hajoca disagrees with, but respects the jury’s verdict in this case. Rather than endure a lengthy appellate process, we were able to settle the case after verdict, and the terms of that settlement are confidential. Hajoca is happy to conclude this matter after more than five years of ongoing litigation, and is eager to continue to serve its customers and the community of Hendersonville,” Hajoca told the Times-News in a May 22 email.
The N.C. Department of Labor cited Robert Crawford Masonry and Hajoca Corporation $30,800 each in 2021 for one alleged willful serious violation and one alleged serious violation of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of North Carolina, the Times-News previously reported.
Pinnacle Grading Co. Inc., was also cited for one alleged serious violation of the N.C. Occupational Safety and Health Act and fined $2,800, the Times-News previously reported.
Katie Adams, the administrator of Marcelino Rendon’s estate, couldn’t be reached May 21.
Greensboro-based attorney Jonathan Berkelhammer, representing Hajoca and Weymouth, declined to comment May 21.
Reporting by George Fabe Russell, Hendersonville Times-News / Hendersonville Times-News
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