A Kansas man who says he was injured in an explosion last week at downtown Fort Worth’s Sandman Signature Hotel has sued the hotel, its owner Northland Properties, the hotel’s basement restaurant and its parent hospitality company.
The lawsuit, filed Jan. 11 in Dallas County, states David Seibolt of Johnson County, Kansas, was giving a presentation in a conference room on the second floor of the Sandman Signature Hotel when the explosion occurred. He had “serious injuries to his head and body in general.”
The suit also states the companies were warned of a gas smell and “failed to reasonably warn, evacuate, or otherwise reasonably respond to the dangerous condition.”
“Defendant's negligent conduct was more than momentary thoughtlessness or inadvertence,” the suit states. “Rather, Defendant's conduct involved an extreme degree of risk, considering the probability and magnitude of the potential harm to Plaintiffs."
Seibolt is seeking at least $1 million in damages. His attorneys Thomas J. Henry and Richard W. Hunnicutt III were not immediately available for comment. Northland Properties also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
At least 21 people were injured in the Jan. 8 explosion. Fort Worth officials say they believe the explosion was connected to a natural gas leak but haven’t yet determined an official cause.
The explosion caused the concrete floor of the hotel’s first floor to collapse into the basement, officials said, where the hotel’s Asian fusion restaurant Musume is located.
Musume is owned by hospitality group Rock Libations. Three of the restaurant's employees were injured in the explosion and others have been reassigned to other jobs under Rock Libations.
Co-owner Josh Babb said in a statement restaurant management is continuing to learn more about what happened Jan. 8.
"We want more than anything to find out how the explosion occurred & how it could have been prevented," the statement reads. "Our employees are our #1 focus right now & we will do anything & everything in our power to support them."
There have now been at least four lawsuits filed in the aftermath of the Fort Worth explosion as of Wednesday afternoon. This includes one by an injured Musume employee who said he smelled gas more than an hour before the explosion but was told by a manager to ignore it.
Other defendants include Sandman Management and Atmos Energy, which said in a statement on its website Friday that the company’s investigation determined its natural gas system was not involved in the explosion.
Got a tip? Email Toluwani Osibamowo at tosibamowo@kera.org. You can follow Toluwani on Twitter @tosibamowo.
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