Lawsuit Over Collapsed Apartments Is Settled : Quake: Undisclosed accord over Northridge complex where 16 died is estimated at more than $1 million.

An undisclosed settlement of more than $1 million has been reached in a massive civil lawsuit over the collapse of the Northridge Meadows Apartments, where 16 tenants died in the Jan. 17, 1994, earthquake.

The early settlement of the case means a jury will never decide whether the collapse of the three-story, 163-unit apartment building was due to shoddy construction, as the lawsuits contended, or was an act of God, as the owner and builder claimed.

Terms of the settlement with the primary defendants--owners Shashikant J. and Renuka S. Jogani and the company that built the complex, Heller Construction, and its owner Brian L. Heller-- were not disclosed. San Fernando Superior Court Judge William MacLaughlin has ordered records of the agreement sealed.

But sources indicated that the settlement was relatively small--involving an insurance payment of $2 million to $3 million, to be divided among the 28 people who sued.

“It’s not a huge amount of money,” said Orange County attorney Keith Koeller, who represented builder Heller Construction Co. of Westlake Village. Koeller declined to discuss a specific sum.

Several plaintiffs said Monday that while they knew a settlement was brewing, they had not yet been told that one had been reached.

“I think we’re better off putting it to bed for all involved,” said Robert M. Freedman, lawyer for building owner Shashikant Jogani.

The 28 plaintiffs included relatives of the 16 people killed, and tenants who were pried from the ruins of the pancaked first floor of the three-story apartment building.

Steve Langdon, who was trapped in his pancaked apartment for five hours, said he’d come home Monday to find a message from his lawyer on his answering machine, but hadn’t had time to return the call.

As is usual in such settlements, the defendants admit no wrongdoing.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs had contended that the building materials used were not strong enough to withstand even a moderate quake.

But lawyers for the builder, Heller, said the apartment complex was built in accordance with building codes that were in effect in 1972, when Northridge Meadows was constructed.

Instead, lawyers for the defendants said unusual seismic forces played on the building, as well as others near it.

“It is a classic act of God,” said Koeller.

Santa Monica attorney Joel B. Castro, the lead plaintiffs’ lawyer, said proceeds from the settlement will be placed in trust, and that individual plaintiffs will later present evidence of their damages. An independent judge--not MacLaughlin--then will distribute the money.

“I think when all the facts are evaluated by the clients, they will be pleased,” Castro said. “You can never replace loss of life with money.”

Castro said the major impetus to settle the case came when the state Supreme Court two weeks ago overturned a controversial 1985 decision and limited the liability of landlords for injuries that occur on their property.

The court ruled that it had erred in 1985 when it applied the legal doctrine of strict liability to residential landlords.

Castro said the Supreme Court’s decision “gave us the impetus” to accept the settlement.

Several plaintiffs in the lawsuit were unaware Monday that a settlement had been reached.

“I know we were in the closing of it,” said first-floor resident Syd Dalven. “We’d better [get a good settlement]. I lost everything. . . . All my friends died.”

But Julie Tindall, whose mother was killed, said she’d never expected much money. “I didn’t have any false expectations.”

Castro had arranged for a controlled demolition of the building last year during which experts pored over the surviving details of its construction. In the lawsuit, numerous building defects were alleged, including the failure to use plywood to brace walls, too few anchor bolts attaching the structure to its foundations, and inadequate connections between floors and walls, and walls and roofs.

“It was the best resolution possible for both plaintiffs and defendants,” said Robert M. Freedman, the owners’ attorney. “My clients are very happy this is resolved. They didn’t do anything wrong. They purchased the building and had the property inspected and had no notice of alleged defects.”

A second partner involved at the time of the construction, Burton S. Ury, has not settled, nor has architect Morris Brown or structural engineer David Weiss.

There are also several subcontractors still in the case, but it has not been determined if they actually worked on Northridge Meadows.

Although attorneys on both sides of the dispute agreed that resolving the case benefited everyone, they added that the settlement terms will make no one happy.

“There’s no such thing as satisfaction when there’s a death,” said Pasadena lawyer Ned Good, whose clients included the parents of three young adults who were killed, including two Cal State Northridge students who had moved into their apartment the weekend before the 6.7-magnitude quake.

“You don’t think sending kids to college is sending them to the cemetery,” Good said.

Times staff writer Henry Chu contributed to this story.

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Closing a Tragic Story

A settlement was reached Monday between 28 plaintiffs, including relatives of the 16 persons who died in the collapse of the Northridge Meadows Apartments in last year’s builders of the structure. Sources indicated the total amount to be paid is between $1 million and $5 million.

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The Fatal Floor

Here is a layout of the first floor of the Northridge Meadows Apartments and locations of the victims.

Apartments without Fatalities

Apartments with Fatalities

Carports

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The Victims

103: Angeline Anne Cerone, 80

102: Sharon Englar, 58 / Phil Englar, 62

123: Darla Raye Enos, 43

101: Pil Soon Lee, 46 / Hwon (Howard) Lee, 14

105: Cecilia Pressman, 72 / David Pressman, 72

108: Karol Runnings, 48 / Bea Reshin, 71

109: Jaime Reyes, 19

104: Manuel D. Sandoral, 24 / Myrna Velasquez, 18

111: Adam Scosnik, 27

124: Jerry Green, 52

127: Ruth Wilhelm, 77