Family sues Pike, 9 firms over death

The daughter and husband of Milena Del Valle , the Jamaica Plain woman who was crushed to death in July by falling ceiling panels in the Interstate-90 connector tunnel, filed a lawsuit yesterday against nine companies and the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority in a case legal observers believe could bring record punitive damages.

Del Valle's daughter, Raquel Ibarra Mora , and Del Valle's husband, Angel, sat side by side in a Boston law office yesterday and said they still ache over the loss of Del Valle and hold responsible the construction firms, whose top officials, they contend, were more concerned with profits than safety.

``This didn't have to happen," Del Valle said in Spanish, as Mora, 23, nodded. ``We want the people who were responsible to realize they should not have been thinking about the money in their pockets, but the people who would be using these" tunnels.

The 14-page complaint alleges that Big Dig managers and contractors consistently chose to save time and money on the construction of the I-90 tunnel at the expense of safety by selecting concrete panels for the ceiling instead of lighter, more costly ones, and then suspending the 4,500-pound slabs over drivers' heads with bolts fastened to the tunnel roof with epoxy. Specialists have said that epoxy-and-bolt systems are seldom used to suspend such heavy ceilings without back up support .

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages from the Turnpike Authority and the companies -- one a joint venture of defendants Bechtel Corp. and Parsons Brinckerhoff . It also seeks compensation for Del Valle's family for the loss of her companionship and income, Angel Del Valle's injuries, and the family's emotional distress.

Though the lawsuit combines all 10 defendants, each one could attempt to negotiate a separate settlement. Legal analysts say one of the reasons punitive damages are so rare is that defendants often try to settle such cases before trial.

A spokesman for Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff declined to comment on the lawsuit but gave the company's ``deepest and heartfelt condolences."

A spokesman for the Turnpike Authority, which Governor Mitt Romney took over after the collapse, said the agency would like to talk directly with Del Valle's family and their lawyers.

``What happened to Milena Del Valle should never have occurred," said Jon Carlisle, spokesman for the authority, which owns the Big Dig tunnel system.

Tracy Miner , a lawyer for Aggregate Industries, said that although the company provided concrete for other parts of the Big Dig, none was used in the roof or drop ceiling of the connector tunnel and it was ``irresponsible" to include the company in the lawsuit.

Company officials with the other defendants could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Lawyers for the Del Valle family said they had winnowed an original list of 23 potential defendants to 10 to target only companies that were tied to the design or construction of the I-90 tunnel ceiling. But they acknowledged that there was some uncertainty in identifying all the companies involved, and Jeffrey Denner , the lawyer representing Angel Del Valle, said it is possible more defendants would be added.

Since the collapse, Angel Del Valle, 46, who was driving the car that carried his 38-year-old wife when the ceiling collapsed and who was slightly injured, said he has seen a psychologist and is still so distraught over what happened that he cannot return to his job as a meat cutter in a Jamaica Plain grocery store because he worries that he will hurt himself. He said he also often has dizzy spells.

Mora, who arrived in Boston two days ago, said she cannot bring herself to go near the site where her mother was killed. ``I didn't just lose my mother," she said. ``I lost my friend, my companion, my support. There is nothing like a mother's love."

During a two-hour interview with the Globe yesterday, Mora and Del Valle sat close together, hugging often and smiling at each other. There was no trace of the tension that both acknowledged had surfaced amid the legal wrangling and international media attention after Del Valle's death.

Del Valle, who initially resisted hiring a lawyer, was surprised when his wife's three children, who live in Costa Rica, Milena's birthplace, decided to hire a lawyer. In the weeks after her death, however, he said he learned through media reports and friends that concerns about the tunnel ceiling's safety had arisen long before it collapsed.

The husband and daughter are executors of Del Valle's estate and are representing the rest of the family in the lawsuit. ``We want justice," Del Valle said.

Although punitive damages are rare in Massachusetts, there have been large awards, including a $25 million judgment in 1999 against a Beacon Hill bar owner whose patrons chased a Burlington man into oncoming traffic, killing him.

Anthony Tarricone , a Boston lawyer who specializes in aircraft accidents, said the tunnel accident has extraordinary potential for punitive damages because of the allegations of shoddy workmanship and design in the tunnel ceiling and the extensive financial resources of the defendants.

``If one or more of the defendants knew there was a safety issue and chose to ignore the safety issue or bury it, that really is a case that is just ripe for punitive damages," said Tarricone.

Mora's brothers -- Kaleb , 19, and Jeremy, 17 -- are in Costa Rica, as is Mora's 4-year-old son, Aaron, who often says his grandmother is in heaven, Mora said.

``Maybe someday we'll be the people we were before," Mora said. ``Or something close to it."

Sean P. Murphy of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Maria Cramer can be reached at mcramer@globe.com, and Scott Allen at allen@globe.com.