The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has upheld the dismissal of a subrogation action brought by insurance companies against the entities that designed, built, operated, and maintained 7 World Trade Center (7WTC) in Manhattan.
The insurers argued that the building had been negligently designed and constructed, which had caused it to collapse on 9/11.
In its decision, the circuit court affirmed the district court's decision in favor of the defendants, although on different grounds than those relied on by the district court. The circuit court held that: given the unprecedented nature and sheer magnitude of the events of September 11, the alleged negligence on the part of defendants was not the cause-in-fact of the collapse of 7WTC.
Citing the "unprecedented etiology and severity of the cataclysm that engulfed lower Manhattan on September 11, 2001," the circuit court found that "7WTC would have collapsed regardless of any negligence ascribed by plaintiffs' experts to the design and construction of 7WTC more than a decade earlier." It concluded: it was simply incompatible with common sense and experience to hold that defendants were required to design and construct a building that would survive the events of September 11, 2001.
The case is Aegis Ins. Services, Inc. v. 7 World Trade Co., L.P., No. 11–4403–cv (2d Cir. Dec. 4, 2013).
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