A jury has awarded $18.2 million to the families of two brothers who were killed while working on a cell tower site in November 2020.

The Delaware jury awarded the figure after the two brothers died when an articulated boom lift fell onto power lines at a Bethany Beach cell tower site.

As reported by Wireless Estimator, Jovan Maldonado-Andino, 23, and his brother Bryan, 22, were working on the site just two weeks after starting on the job. On the day they both died, high gusts of between 35 to 44mph toppled the lift on power lines.

Following the filing of a wrongful death lawsuit by the brother's relatives, the jury awarded in favor of the family against general contractor Nexius Solutions, Inc. and its internal training affiliate Myndco, Inc.

The men had been working for Velex, which had been cited by the US Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) for three serious violations. Velex had paid the worker's compensation for the deaths and was not part of the suit.

The verdict last week (April 27) came after nearly four years of litigation and a ten-day trial that pointed to several safety failures, reports Wireless Estimator. These included uncertified workers, dangerous wind conditions that company policy prohibited, a remote safety manager instead of an on-site one, and a corporate structure that talked extensively about safety oversight while failing to exercise it when it mattered most.

The brothers climbed into the platform of a Genie Z-135/70 articulating boom lift at the Sussex Water Company water tower in Bethany Beach, Delaware, on November 2, 2020.

At the time, they were working on a T-Mobile cell phone antenna approximately 120 feet above the ground.

The two men were working on the tower despite wind advisory warnings for the Delaware beaches the previous day. The manufacturer of the boom lift specified a maximum wind threshold of 28 mph, while Nexius had its own internal policy prohibiting aerial lift operations when winds exceeded 20 mph.

The lawsuit alleged Nexius and Myndco were negligent in not ensuring the safe use of the lift by allowing it to be operated during high winds and for failure to train the men before operating the lift.

Last week, the jury agreed with the plaintiffs, awarding $18,228,409, to be paid by Nexius and Myndco. Sunbelt, the company that rented the lift to Velex, reached a confidential agreement with the family in March before trial and was dismissed from the case, noted court records.

The jury awarded damages of $4,011,992.50 to the estate of Jovan Maldonado-Andino, $3,804,996.05 to the estate of Bryan Maldonado-Andino, $4,750,000 to Vanessa Andino, and $4,750,000 to Joaquin Maldonado.

Two years before the trial began, Nexius Solutions, Myndco, plus five other Nexius-family entities simultaneously filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

These companies included Nexius Solutions, Velex, Velex SI, Allios, AccuV, Intelgica, and Myndco, owing a combined $600m to creditors, made up of more than 1,000 companies.