Structure Company Settles Injury Lawsuit With Dallas Cowboys Employees

The Dallas Cowboy employees that were seriously injured in a practice area collapse last year have reached a personal injury settlement with the company that built the structure.
According to Sports Illustrated, Cowboys scout Rich Behm was paralyzed from the waist down while special teams coach Joe DeCamillas broke his back in the building collapse accident. The accident occurred on May 2, 2009, when a building where the Dallas Cowbosy was practicing fell apart in high winds.
The two injured men filed Texas personal injury lawsuits against Summit Structures LLC as well as the parent company, Cover-All Building Systems Inc., and a number of other companies associated both with the manufacturing of the structure and the Dallas Cowboys, including the owner of the land where the building was located.
In the personal injury lawsuit, the two injured men argued that the structure company ignored warnings made by an engineer regarding the safety of the building and was grossly negligent. Summit Structures still argues that a freak wind storm caused the building to collapse, despite testimony from the National Institute of Standards and Technology that concluded that the wind the day of the building collapse was 55 or 60 miles per hour though the building was guaranteed to withstand 90 mile per hour winds.
Summit Structures and Cover-All Building Systems both have faced similar lawsuits in the past for other collapsed structures. Cover-All Building Systems has sought bankruptcy protection following the settlement, citing legal fees and related costs.