Judge removes city from lawsuit by family of woman crushed in Meridian Street drawbridge

A federal judge last week called Aura Beatriz Garcia's death in the Meridian Street Bridge in 2013 "shocking and tragic, and in all likelihood preventable," but said the city of Boston and two public-works officials aren't legally liable.

Judge F. Dennis Saylor's ruling means Mirna Hernandez's lawsuit over the death of her sister, Aura Beatriz Garcia, continues against the companies Boston hired to train bridge tenders and to install and maintain video and other equipment on the bridge.

Garcia died in Dec. 31, 2013 when a bridge tender began raising the bridge for a boat even though Garcia was still walking across it, then lowered it, crushing her as she hung to the lip of one side of the bridge.

Naylor wrote the city, Public Works Commissioner Joanne Massaro and Bridge Superintendent Fouad Hamzeh were shielded from a lawsuit because Hernandez presented no evidence they had done anything intentional to deprive Garcia of her life under the Fourteenth Amendment:

[T]he complaint alleges generally that Hamzeh and Massaro were deliberately indifferent in their hiring, supervising, training, and policy implementation. However, there is no allegation that the bridge tender was unfit for his job. Furthermore, while the complaint alleges that Hamzeh and Massaro improperly trained and supervised their subordinates, there is no allegation as to the level of training or supervision that the bridge tender received. Finally, while the complaint alleges generally that Hamzeh and Massaro were deliberately indifferent in implementing and authorizing inadequate safety policies, the only actual policy alleged in the complaint requires that the bridge tender ensure that the bridge is clear of obstructions before opening.