Plaintiffs dismiss Alameda County from Ghost Ship lawsuit

Attorneys for the plaintiffs whose loved ones died in the Ghost Ship fire in Oakland have voluntarily dismissed their case against Alameda County.

“We have decided to dismiss the county, but it’s without prejudice,” said Mary Alexander of Mary Alexander & Associates P.C. earlier this week. “If we can develop more facts for the judge, we’ll be back. But for now, we’re going to dismiss them voluntarily.”

The county was dismissed from the case last week.

In a tentative ruling Nov. 9 on the county’s demurrer to dismiss the case against it, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Brad Seligman noted that the county, in a reply brief, argued the county’s fire and building codes apply only in unincorporated areas — not in cities such as Oakland.

At a Nov. 12 hearing on the demurrers, Seligman gave both sides the opportunity to more fully brief the issue. But his tentative ruling contained one sentence about the issue that prompted Alexander to dismiss: “The court also briefly reviewed the County’s Fire and Building Codes and did not locate any authority for enforcement within the city.”

“Our decision was based solely on the judge saying there was no jurisdiction of the county where this is,” Alexander said. “It’s not incorporated and you can’t change that fact.”

Because Seligman had also decided that county social workers who had investigated child welfare claims at the Ghost Ship also could not be sued in connection to the fire, Alameda County is out of the suit entirely. Gregory v. Ng et al., RG16843631 (Alameda Super. Ct., filed Dec. 23, 2016).

The plaintiffs continue to pursue their case against the city of Oakland, Pacific Gas and Electric Co., and private defendants such as owner Chor Ng and tenant Derick Almena. On Dec. 2, 2016, a fire ripped through the warehouse, which had been converted into an arts and entertainment venue, killing 36 people.

Seligman overruled the city’s demurrer to dismiss at the Nov. 12 hearing, ruling that the case may proceed against Oakland on one legal theory: that city employees had a mandatory duty to protect public safety.

State law gives municipal workers immunity from liability for performing a faulty inspection or no inspection at all. But because Oakland police officers and firefighters had visited the Ghost Ship several times for purposes other than inspections, Seligman ruled, the city has no governmental immunity.