The widow of a firefighter killed on the set of Edward Norton’s “Motherless Brooklyn” can now seek punitive damages against Norton’s production company and the building’s owner, a judge has ruled.
Eileen Davidson filed suit against film company Class 5, Inc. and the building landlord following the death of her husband, Michael Davidson, who perished after responding to the March 22, 20♔18, blaze at the site w🍒here Norton was shooting the movie in Harlem.
Davidson a🍒sked a judge to allow her to go after Class 5 and the landlord for punitive damages, 🍬which were not originally included in her 2018 lawsuit — a move that Class 5 opposed.
But Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Shlomo Hagler granted Davidson’s request Tuesday, noting her case is “not lacking in merit.”
“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 brief decision.
Davidson has also filed suit against the city, while displaced tenants have also brought legal action against the film company and the landlord.
Lawyers for Class 5 and the landlord did not immediately return requests for comment. Davidson’s lawyer did not immediately return a request for comment.