The children of a woman who died after being injured in a balcony collapse is suing the company that built the structure and the City of Corner Brook for approving it as safe.
According to a statement of claim filed in the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador, Joyce Millicent Cuff was a guest at a home in the Curling area of Corner Brook on June 24, 2016.
During the visit, Mrs. Cuff was standing on a balcony at the home when it collapsed to the ground. She was injured and died of those injuries 10 days later, on July 4, 2016.
The statement of claim was filed on behalf of Gary Cuff, who is Mrs. Cuff’s son and the executor of her estate. It claims the contractor, Pasadena Contractors limited of Corner Brook, was negligent in designing and constructing the balcony in the fall of 2012.
Cuff claims the company used improperly sized lumber and inappropriate hardware, including the wrong metal hangers and screws.
Further, the court document claims the City of Corner Brook was negligent. The allegations are that the city’s inspector failed to inspect the balcony as part of an occupancy permit granted to the homeowners and had issued a building permit for the structure without the design having an engineer’s stamp of approval.
Cuff is seeking compensation in the amount of $10,383 for funeral expenses incurred by him and also damages for him and his brother for the loss of care, guidance and companionship they might reasonably have expected from their mother if her unexpected death had not occurred.
Both Pasadena Contractors and the City of Corner Brook have filed defences to the statement of claim against them and both entities claim no wrongdoing on their respective parts.
In its defence, Pasadena Contractors claims to have no knowledge of any of the claims made against it. It even claims to have no knowledge of having built the structure in the fall of 2012, let alone having used inappropriate materials.
The city’s submission is that it was never notified of any outside structure being built at the property. The city’s defence states that a municipal building inspector visited the property on two occasions, in November and December of 2012, to inspect work done on the inside of the home as referenced in the building permit issued to the homeowner.
The city said it was never advised of any development or construction of an outside deck and there was no one working on such a structure during the inspector’s visits.
Both Pasadena Contactors and the City of Corner Brook have requested the court dismiss the claims against them.
There are currently no dates set in the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador to hear this matter.
