FDNY Firefighter's Widow Can Seek Punitive Damages

A judge ruled that the widow of an FDNY firefighter who died on the set of an Edward Norton movie is allowed to seek punitive damages from the production company and the owner of the building.

Lt. Michael Davidson died during a five-alarm fire at a Harlem walk-up on March 22, 2018. The lawsuit by Eileen Davidson claims Class 5 Inc.—Norton's film company behind "Motherless Brooklyn," which he also directed—altered the building during filming and created a hazard that resulted in the firefighter's death in a blazed caused by a boiler in the basement.

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Punitive damages weren't in Eileen Davidson's original suit, the New York Post reports. Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Shlomo Hagler granted the widow's request to add the damages, despite objections from the lawyers for Class 5.

“The record is replete with allegations of violation of statutes, failure of the sprinkler system to operate, the introduction of highly combustible materials at the subject premises, the erection of walls and partitions that may have concealed the spread of a fire, causing the tragic death of a firefighter, Michael Davidson,” Hagler wrote in his ruling, according to the Post.

After the lawsuit was filed, Class 5 had asked that the case be dismissed, arguing that the claims hadn't connected the fire to the film company, which did nothing wrong.