Construction Company Put on Probation for Fatal South Dakota Building Collapse

A construction company was sentenced to a year of probation in the death of a worker during a 2016 building collapse in downtown Sioux Falls.

U.S. District Judge Karen Schreier ordered Hultgren Construction to serve a year of probation or until the company is fully dissolved. The judge noted that the company itself was charged with violating the Occupational Safety and Health Act and not any of the officials who owned Hultgren.

“This court has very little it can do at this point,” Schreier said.

The collapse happened Dec. 2, 2016, as employees were removing a load-bearing wall between the former Copper Lounge building and Skelly’s Pub. Hultgren Construction employee Ethan McMahon was killed and an upstairs resident was trapped for hours after the building collapsed.

Attorney Mark O’Leary, representing Hultgren Construction, told the judge that the company exists “in name only” and would cease existing by early next year, depending on the outcome of a pending legal matter and the company’s bankruptcy, the Argus Leader reported.

Insurers for the company said earlier this year they will pay more than $4 million to settle lawsuits.

Related:

• Remodeler of Collapsed South Dakota Building Files for Bankruptcy
• Liabilities Mount in Wake of Sioux Falls Building Collapse
• Family Sues Companies Over 2016 Sioux Falls Building Collapse

Topics Construction