Deal reached in collapse of beams at diner

Bill Gang

Friday, Aug. 21, 1998 | 10:50 a.m.

The stack of lawsuits which resulted from the collapse of decorative beams on Taco Cabana diners in 1993 has been settled for about $7 million.

Thursday's settlement was prompted by a jury decision earlier this week -- following a three-week trial -- that would have allowed punitive damages against the construction companies which built the restaurant at Sahara Avenue and Decatur Boulevard.

The settlement was approved by District Judge Jack Lehman after Marlin Construction agreed to pay $3 million and Perkins General Contractors Inc. added more than $2 million. Red Line Taco Four Ltd., which owns the Taco Cabana chain of Mexican restaurants, already had agreed to pay $750,000.

Val Mar Construction, the Texas company which had installed the decorative beams with nails too short to hold the weight, already had agreed to pay $1 million to be divided among the nearly two dozen diners who filed legal actions, including families of those injured.

Three other firms named in the lawsuit settled earlier in the case for relatively minor amounts.

The defense attorneys have agreed to an equitable split of the settlement based on injuries that resulted.

In all, 14 people were injured in the mishap with Carolynn Towbin, the wife of Tobin Infiniti owner Daniel Towbin, being the single most injured person. She suffered two crushed vertebrae in the incident that required reconstructive surgeries. The Towbins were in the restaurant with their daughter and son at the time of the ceiling collapse.

Taco Cabana Inc., the San Antonio-based purveyor of fajitas, quesadillas and other "Tex-Mex" cuisine, wasn't part of the trial because of a settlement reached earlier. The loss was another setback for the chain that has suffered severe financial problems in recent years that resulted in the closure of its Las Vegas restaurants.

The lawsuits charged that Taco Cabana "hired unlicensed and unqualified persons to integrate impermissible and unlawful designs and construction methods."

City rules, however, do not require that a company be licensed to install decorative items.