Lawsuit Alleges Gross Negligence After Unsecured Wall Crushes Teen Athlete at Ramsey High
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ramsey NJ, a devastating incident at Ramsey High School in March has led to a major lawsuit against the Borough of Ramsey, the Board of Education, and multiple construction and architecture firms. A 16-year-old varsity athlete suffered “serious and grievous personal injuries” when a locker room dividing wall allegedly collapsed on him.
The lawsuit claims this was an “easily preventable” disaster resulting from a series of failures, and the responsible parties failed to safeguard the student.
Excruciating Injuries and Shattered Athletic Dreams
The victim, a standout varsity football player and competitive wrestler, was struck by a section of the wall in the boys’ locker room.
The impact caused catastrophic injuries to his right knee, including:
- A ruptured ACL and PCL
- A torn MCL
- Dislocation
According to plaintiffs’ attorney Arthur Lynch, the student has already undergone “a series of complex surgeries” and has been told he may never compete in football or competitive wrestling again.
“Due to the gross negligence of these parties, a young man’s athletic dreams have been shattered; his high school experience will never be the same,” Lynch stated.
The Cause: Unsecured and Substandard Construction
The lawsuit lays blame on several parties involved in recent improvements at the high school, citing specific failures in the wall’s construction dating back to November 2021:
- Construction Negligence: The suit alleges that the general contractor (C.R. Construction Co. Inc.) and construction firm (Kal Tech Engineering NJ Inc.) failed to use rebar and other appropriate materials to properly construct the wall, leaving it dangerously unstable.
- Architecture Oversight Failure: The architecture firm (Firm Solutions Architecture Corp.) and its architects are accused of negligence for allegedly failing to “conduct adequate site visits and inspections” and allowing the contractor to deviate from the approved plans.
- School Board Liability: The suit contends that the School Board and the municipality “should have known” the wall was unstable. This claim is bolstered by the fact that the girls’ locker room wall was reportedly taken down by officials when they realized it, too, hadn’t been secured to the floor after the boys’ wall fell.
The victim’s mother, who has already faced and will continue to face significant medical expenses, hospitalization, and loss of income, is demanding accountability after the Borough and Board of Education allegedly failed to settle the claim within the initial six months.
The Call for Accountability
While School Superintendent Andrew Matteo declined to comment on the pending litigation, the attorney for the family asserts that the community places its trust in these institutions to protect children. This lawsuit seeks not just financial damages, but a clear message that gross negligence in school safety and construction will not go unchecked in Bergen County.
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