Scaffolding Collapse at Golden Gateway Center Draws Angry Response from Tenants

SF Attorney Drexel A. Bradshaw Represents Plaintiffs in ongoing suit alleging ongoing safety concerns

Media Contacts: David Perry & Associates, Inc. / David Perry
(415) 693-0583 / cell: (415) 676-7007 / news@davidperry.com

6 December 2007 - San Francisco, CA: Three workers were transported to area hospitals today after they were left dangling from a collapsed scaffolding between the 18th & 19th floors of San Francisco's Golden Gateway Center at 440 Davis - a building currently at the center of an ongoing legal battle between the owners of the property and its tenants. Represented by attorney Drexel A. Bradshaw (www.bradshawassociates.com) the tenants have complained for years about ongoing health and safety issues at the site.

"This is yet one more example of the careless disregard for human life and safety on the part of the owners of the Golden Gateway Center and their contractors," said Bradshaw, who originally filed a case on behalf of the tenants on August 8, 2006. "First it was exposure to silica dust which led to the urgent hospitalization of several elderly individuals and children, then complete disregard for basic health and construction safety standards - now this. Will someone have to die before these incidents stop? I certainly hope not."

In June, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Katherine Feinstein certified a Class Action Suit against San Francisco's Golden Gateway Center Apartments on behalf of the approximately 1000 residents of the Financial District property overlooking the City's waterfront. The case against the property's landlord and against the landlord's contractor, alleged that illegal construction occurring at the site had exposed residents to severe and potentially fatal health risks caused by airborne silica. Additionally, the suit alleged that the construction performed was illegal and beyond the scope of initial permits issued.

Air samples gathered from a certified Industrial Hygienist reveal that the Permissible Exposure Limit ("PELs") of respirable quartz containing dust at Golden Gateway Apartments exceeded the acceptable limit set forth by the California Occupational Safety and Health Regulations (Cal/OSHA). According to Bradshaw, the level of respirable quartz containing dust found in the Golden Gateway Apartments was over 55 times the PEL recommended by the PEL Advisory Committee at the time of the suit.

According to Bradshaw, tenants have demanded abatement of incessant noise, heat and airborne crystalline silica dust but have been continuously ignored. The longer a person is exposed to respirable crystalline silica the greater their chances of being diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB), lung cancer, scleroderma or other silica related diseases.