Mary E. Alexander

Alexander is winding down the last elements of the settlements she obtained as liaison counsel for the plaintiffs in the Ghost Ship warehouse fire litigation.

She and co-counsel settled with the City of Oakland and PG&E Co. last year for $32.7 million for the victims and families of the 2016 fire that killed 36. In re Ghost Ship Fire Litigation, RG16843631 (Alameda Co. Super. Ct., filed Dec. 24, 2016).

“Now we’re just finishing up with obtaining funds from the owners, who are in voluntary bankruptcy,” she said, adding that the owners will sell their real estate property and contribute another $12 million to the recovery fund.

Now on her docket is a massive class action filed with other law firms against Bank of America NA over claims it botched state Covid benefit unemployment relief accounts it administered. The complaint accuses BofA of so badly mishandling the accounts that fraudsters were able to siphon millions of dollars from funds intended for the unemployed. Yick v. Bank of America NA, 3:21-cv-00376 (N.D. Cal., filed Jan. 14, 2021).

“The fraud couldn’t have happened without the bank,” Alexander said. “They issued old debit cards with magnetic stripes instead of the more expensive chips, and that makes them complicit.” California officials appointed a special fraud counsel to investigate the matter. “The investigation will help show how this happened, and I welcome it,” Alexander said. “The government has broader investigative powers than we do.”

She is also litigating a suit on behalf of passengers who allege they were exposed to Covid-19 on a cruise to Hawaii on the Carnival Corp. ship Grand Princess. The ship and its infected passengers arrived in March 2020 in San Francisco Bay with 21 confirmed coronavirus cases on board. It became an early floating message that the virus was serious and—after President Trump tried to prevent the passengers from disembarking—of the political chaos the pandemic would bring. Archer v. Carnival Corp., 2:20-cv-04203 (C.D. Cal., filed April 8, 2020).

Alexander also filed a suit accusing the Catholic Church of allowing a Santa Clara County priest to sexually molest, assault and abuse her client from the ages of six to 11. Jane Doe v. Doe 1, a Religious Corporation Sole et al., CGC-20-586529 (S.F. Super. Ct., filed Sept. 14, 2020).

A 2019 California law opened a wider window for victims to come forward. “Many children don’t report and as adults it can take years for them to realize the effect of childhood assault on their lives,” she said.

- John Roemer