Company Ordered to Pay $6.4 Million in Damages

A Claremont company was ordered to pay $6.4 million in damages to the owners of an 80-unit apartment complex here after a jury found substandard construction contributed to its destruction in the 1994 Northridge earthquake, lawyers said Wednesday.

Reinforcing Post Tensioning Services Inc. of Claremont must also pay the owners, the Neil and Margo Shekhter Family Trust of Bel-Air, interest and court costs that could hit $2 million according to Steve Zelig, lawyer for the trust.

“This company opted to construct a building using materials that did not comply with the very plans they submitted,� Zelig said. “This was an obvious ploy to cut costs at the expense of safety.

But attorney Scott Richard Lord, who represented Reinforcing Post Tensioning Services, blamed the building’s collapse on the force of the quake. He also said the Shekhter Trust had already received $5.5 million in settlements from other contractors and insurance companies.

“The fact is, this building was two miles from the epicenter of the Northridge earthquake and experienced some of the most severe ground motion in the county,� Lord said. “If the award is allowed to stand, it will result in what is, in effect, a double recovery.�

The apartment building, since rebuilt at its site in the 11600 block of Blucher Street, originally was constructed in 1986.

During the 10-week trial in Los Angeles Superior Court, Zelig argued that the company deviated substantially from building plans that had been approved by the city of Los Angeles’ Department of Building and Safety.

The company failed to connect walls to an elevated deck above the garage, Zelig said. It also compromised safety by using less expensive steel and construction methods, he said.