McCarter recently achieved a victory at the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit when the Court affirmed the United States District Court’s dismissal of a lawsuit brought against the City of Wilmington, DE. The suit alleged that the deaths of three firefighters and injuries to others in 2016 during an intentionally-set arson fire were due to a civil rights violation of the city and its officers. The Plaintiffs’ civil rights lawsuit alleged that the deaths and injuries were “proximately caused” by the City’s cost-reduction firehouse staffing policies, which were originally adopted some seven years before the fire. The McCarter team convinced the United States District Court of the District of Delaware to dismiss the lawsuit and the Plaintiffs appealed that dismissal to the Third Circuit. On January 6, 2021, the Court of Appeals agreed with the trial court and affirmed the dismissal.
The McCarter team representing the City included Chairman Emeritus Mike Kelly, partners Adam Saravay and Steve Wood, and associate Hayley Reese.