Verdicts & Settlements September 26, 2005: $700K settlement reached in railing collapse

A Pennsylvania condominium complex has agreed to pay $700,000 in the death of a 73-year-old man who died five years ago when he fell 23 feet to the ground after the railing on his balcony collapsed.

On Sept. 29, 2000, Stewart MacDonald was watering flowers on his balcony in Warminster,

In their lawsuit, the family blamed the collapse on a defective railing that did not meet building code.

They sued the Centennial Station Condominium Association, contractors Schaeffer Company Builders of Bensalem and Cahill Contracting of Penndel, architect Robert E. Bolten Associates of Brigantine, N.J., and the Township of Warminster. However, the township was later dismissed from the lawsuit, Warminster solicitor Stephen Harris told the Courier Times.

As a result of the lawsuit, railings were replaced at the complex.

Attorney James Beasley represented MacDonald estate.