Evidence Order Issued in Fatal Scaffolding Plunge

A judge Wednesday ordered the preservation of all evidence and records involving the deadly scaffolding collapse at the John Hancock Center building so the materials can be examined by investigators for the victims’ families.

Attorney Robert Clifford sought the emergency motion as he filed a lawsuit on behalf of the families of two women killed Saturday when their cars were crushed by a 3,000-pound section of scaffolding that fell from the 42nd floor.

“The families are in need of protection, particularly with some of the finger-pointing going on” by the scaffold operator and the city, Clifford said.

Another lawsuit was filed later by attorney Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. on behalf of the husband of the third victim.

The lawsuits accuse the Shorenstein Co., which owns the Hancock, and scaffolding operator AMS Architectural Technologies of Denver of failing to ensure the scaffolding was secured in a safe position.

The suits also name scaffolding manufacturer Beeche Systems Corp. of Scotia, N.Y., and Prime Staging Inc. of Bensenville, Ill., which assembled the scaffolding.

City Building Commissioner Mary Richardson-Lowry said Tuesday that AMS violated manufacturer’s specifications that the custom-made rig be secured to the base or top of the Hancock building in high winds.

A spokesman for AMS disputed the city’s assertions. “We still believe this whole investigation is going to focus on the design and not the operation,” Ray Hanania said Wednesday. “I know we followed the safety procedures to what we believe was the letter of the responsibility.”