$14.5M Fatal-Fire Settlement Advances

The Elicker administration took a step closer to paying $14.5 million to the estates of two men who died during a fatal fire at an illegal rooming house, as a key city committee approved a multiple-lawsuit-resolving proposed settlement.

The Litigation Settlement Committee took that unanimous vote during its most recent meeting at the end of June.

The four-person board — consisting of Chief of Staff Sean Matteson, Board of Alders President Tyisha Walker-Myers, Chief Administrative Officer Regina Rush-Kittle, and Controller Kristy Sampieri — signed off on the proposed settlement for related lawsuits filed against the city by the estates of Corey Reed and Michael Randall, Sr.

Those two men both died during a May 2019 fire at an illegal rooming house at 150 West St.

Reed’s and Randall’s estates filed two separate lawsuits against the city in 2021, seeking financial damages for the loss of their loved ones on the grounds that the city — then under the leadership of Mayor Toni Harp — knew about the illegal rooming house and code violations, such as an insufficient number of working smoke detectors.

Those parallel court cases were set to go to trial in June — but the city and the plaintiffs reached a last-minute $14.5 million proposed settlement agreement after jury selection and before the start of the presentation of evidence.

The Litigation Settlement Committee’s approval on June 26 of the proposed $14.5 million settlement — all but $1 million of which will be covered by the city’s insurance — means that the agreement now heads to probate court for a final sign off.

City spokesperson Lenny Speiller said that the plaintiffs must also sign releases from future claims related to the 2019 fatal fire. ​“Then the settlement money is paid.” No other approvals are needed beyond that of probate court, he said.

Speiller also confirmed that the proposed $14.5 million settlement approved by the Litigation Settlement Committee contains the same terms as the one first reported on by the Independent on May 30. The settlement amount will be distributed evenly between the estates of the two men who died.

“While this fire predates my time as mayor, it’s important that the city reached an amicable settlement with all impacted families and parties that were involved in this horrific incident,” Mayor Justin Elicker said in his original statement about the proposed settlement.

“Our clients are pleased that the settlement process is moving forward smoothly and as expected,” plaintiffs attorney Craig Smith of the firm Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder told the Independent on Thursday. ​“With this equitable resolution, the City of New Haven is doing right by these families who have suffered so much. We’re honored to represent them and to have secured this accountability for the unimaginable loss they experienced.”