Key Bridge victims' families taking legal action to hold shipowner liable
Baltimore — The families of three of the six immigrant construction workers who died when the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed will ask a federal court to prevent the owner of the ship that crashed into the structure from escaping legal liability.
The families announced on Tuesday that they will take legal action to hold Grace Ocean Private Limited legally liable for the deadly collapse. The Singapore-based company owns the Dali, the massive container ship that rammed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in late March after it lost power, causing a large section of the bridge to collapse.
Eight workers doing maintenance on the bridge that night fell into the water — and six of them died. It took 11 weeks for the Port of Baltimore to fully reopen after the bridge collapse, causing millions of dollars in economic losses.
"Six essential workers who were simply doing their job, six men who have come to this country with dreams of a better life, better future," said Gustavo Torres, executive director of the advocacy group CASA, during a press conference announcing the action. "That future tragically was stolen from them."
Torres said the group is seeking justice "because no corporation, no amount of money, no legal loophole should ever be able to erase the value of a human life."
If approved by the federal district court in Maryland, the move could allow the victims' families to request and obtain monetary compensation for the deaths of their loved ones, said Matthew Wessler of Gupta Wessler LLP, the firm filing the court motion.
"They all have suffered an unimaginable tragedy, losing their loved ones, whether it was one of our clients who lost her husband and partner. Another who lost their son," Wessler told CBS News. "And we think that accountability, or they think that justice here means holding those responsible accountable."
Grace Ocean Private Limited was "negligent," Wessler argued.
"We believe that, at least at this point, what we know so far is that the ship should not have left the port when it did, after having lost power multiple times, within a day or two before it left," he added.
Wessler said his firm is planning to file the motion to hold Grace Ocean Private Limited legally liable before Sept. 24, a deadline in a federal court case started earlier this year after the ship company sought to limit its legal exposure stemming from the accident. CBS News reached out to the attorneys representing Grace Ocean Private Limited.
The legal action will be filed on behalf of the families of Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalez, Jose Maynor Lopez Sandoval and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, three of the construction workers who died in March.
"My husband is a hero"
In an exclusive television interview inside her home in Glen Burnie, Maryland, Maria del Carmen Castellon called Luna Gonzalez "the best husband" and her "best friend." The two immigrants from El Salvador met in the U.S. and married in 2017 after spending more than a decade together.
Castellon said she still vividly remembers the last conversation she had with her husband in the hours before he left for his overnight shift on the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26.
"That Monday, my husband calls me and says, 'Mami, can you make me a tortilla?" Castellon recounted.
"He said goodbye with a kiss," Castellon added. "And when he said goodbye, all I remember is that he took his phone and he put it in the car and I saw his wallpaper was a photo of us. It was the last time I saw him."
Torres, of CASA, the advocacy group that has been helping the families of the deceased construction workers, said the victims' loved ones deserve monetary restitution, labor protections and work permits, as some lack permanent legal immigration status in the U.S.
"They are people who work really, really hard. They're people who were always thinking in the American dream, making a contribution and building their own businesses," Torres said.
For Castellon, justice is a difficult concept: "Justice for me would be to have my husband at my side. Share all the dreams we had planned."
To honor her husband's memory, Castellon has continued operating a food truck they opened together in Glen Burnie. Every day, she cooks and sells pupusas, tortas, tacos and cheesesteaks to a loyal clientele, many of whom are construction workers like her late husband.
One day, Castellon hopes to open her own restaurant, a dream she and her husband shared. "I know he's going to be very proud of me when I open the restaurant," she said.
Castellon implored people "not to forget" her husband and the other victims of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse.
"They were there," she noted, "so this country can have better streets. And those bridges, to have better conditions."
"The only thing I would love for people to know is that, for me, my husband is a hero, alongside his five coworkers," Castellon said.