A class action lawsuit worth a reported $30 million has been filed after a shopping mall in Elliot Lake, Ontario collapsed, killing two people and injuring countless others.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the people injured, emotionally scarred or left jobless by the incident, claims that the June 23rd roof collapse of the Algo Centre Mall was preventable. Toronto lawyer Douglas Elliot, who filed the action and is representing the lead plaintiffs in the case, said:
“There were plenty of warnings that trouble was coming,”
Defendants named in the lawsuit are the Algo Centre Mall, the Ontario Government, the City of Elliot Lake and an engineering firm which recently carried out an inspection of the building on behalf of the mall management.
If the lawsuit is successful, the defendants are expected to have to shell out as much as $30 million to compensate victims. Some of the cost will be covered by the defendant’s employers’ liability insurance, but for the compensation to be paid to members of the public who were visiting the mall at the time of the incident, it will be necessary for the defendants to have public liability insurance too.