High court to hear arguments in worker’s fall

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When Russell Brenner fell through a hole while working at a former factory owned by the managers of Milwaukee’s annual Summerfest concert series, he merely wanted someone to be liable for his injuries.

Wisconsin courts have so far said that “someone” should be Milwaukee World Festival, which bought the building at 607 E. Polk St. in 2011 and organizes not only Summerfest but various other events held annually along Milwaukee’s lakefront. But Milwaukee World representatives note the hole Brenner fell through was left in the building’s floor when the former tenant – Charter Manufacturing Co. – removed some furnaces and did nothing to eliminate the resulting hazard aside from putting down some plywood.

Now Milwaukee World Festival is preparing to take its contentions before the state’s high court. The Wisconsin Supreme Court is scheduled to start hearing arguments in the case at 11 a.m. Oct. 26 at the Bayfield County Courthouse, 117 E. 5th St., Washburn.

The dispute dates to Nov. 9, 2011, when Brenner was working at the building as an employee of Hunzinger Construction. After his fall and resulting injuries, Brenner and his wife responded the following year with a lawsuit.

Milwaukee World Festival was not the only defendant. Also named were the former owner – Garland Brothers Joint Venture – and Charter Manufacturing Co., a tenant that had run a wire-manufacturing operating out of the building.

Brenner alleged that all the defendants had been negligent and had violated the state’s safe-place statutes. He also sued the companies’ insurers.

The courts, though, have not found that there is plenty of blame to go around. Concluding that current law calls for holding no one liable but the current owner, Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Richard Sankovtiz dismissed the negligence claims against Garland Brothers and Charter in 2014.

Sankovitz noted that Brenner’s fall came after both Charter’s decision to vacate the premises and Garland’s sale of the property to Milwaukee World Festival. What’s more, the sale was specified as being “as is,” bolstering the case that the liability should shift to Milwaukee World Festival.

Milwaukee World used its first appeal to put forth arguments that Charter should not have been dismissed as a defendant, bringing up the furnaces that Charter had removed from the northwest part of building in 2009, before it had vacated the premises. Milwaukee World contended it did not know, when it had hired Hunzinger to renovate the building into storage and office space, that the holes left in the building’s floor had merely been covered up with plywood.

The District I Court of Appeals disagreed with Milwaukee World and affirmed Sankovitz, finding that Milwaukee World knew or had reason to know that there were holes under the plywood panels.

Milwaukee World Festival is now calling on the Supreme Court to change the state’s common law so that the liability for injuries doesn’t fall entirely to owners. Milwaukee World Festival is instead saying that tenants such as Charter should be able to be held responsible. Follow @erikastrebel