Jury Awards Millions In Damages To Neighbors Of Veranda House Fire

A Nantucket jury on Wednesday awarded millions of dollars in damages to the neighbors of the Veranda House who filed lawsuits against the owner of the hotel and its staff after the massive fire that struck the historic structure nearly four years ago.

Following a nine-day jury trial in Nantucket Superior Court, which came to an end Tuesday afternoon following closing arguments, the 10-person jury reached its verdict just after 3 p.m. on Wednesday. While the owner of the Veranda House, the Rhode Island-based Procaccianti Companies, was ordered to pay a total of $3.5 million to the four neighbors who brought lawsuits in the aftermath of the fire, the damages awarded were far less than what they had been seeking. 

The lawsuits were filed by Kevin and Kathy Davidson (4 Step Lane), Susan Renzulli (5A Step Lane), and Franklin Harris (5A Step Lane). The neighbors were represented by Jonathan Sweet of Keches Law Group, who, at the conclusion of his roughly 50-minute closing argument, encouraged the jury to grant the Davidsons and Renzulli $3 to $5 million each in damages for the emotional distress caused by the fire. Sweet also suggested $500,000 to $750,000 be awarded to Renzulli for her thigh injury that required multiple surgeries, several days after the fire was extinguished, when she fell through the floor of her home while attempting to retrieve belongings (after allegedly being granted permission by the fire department). She stated that had she known she was in danger of getting injured and that it was unsafe to enter, she never would have re-entered her home.

Sweet did not mince words when taking aim at the owners and operators of the Veranda House during his closing argument. 

“The defendants come in here, admit that it's all their fault, but they spend years and then two weeks at trial downplaying all the damage that they caused," Sweet said. "You've heard throughout this trial cherry-picking photographs, the gentlemen talk about cherry-picking medical records, putting down their faith-based self-help measures that they took, dredging up unrelated stuff about their families, their son's struggles, mistakes, and I would submit to you, it's all about dodging responsibility.

"Sure, they paid off some stuff. Good for them. They should have," Sweet continued. "But they haven't paid for the most important ones, and that's the human damages that have been the subject in this case, and that your job as jurors is going to be to evaluate, to include everything that the defendant's fire took.”

The cause of the massive blaze that struck the Veranda House on July 9, 2022, was ultimately determined to be an employee improperly disposing of a cigarette, according to the final investigation report by the Massachusetts State Police Fire and Explosion Investigation Unit. While everyone inside the hotel managed to escape, the fire spread to three neighboring structures, owned by the plaintiffs who brought the legal action against the hotel's corporate owner.

For Harris, Sweet suggested $750,000 to $1 million in emotional damages and $350,000 to $500,000 for a heel injury he suffered during the fire, which Sweet said has taken away his ability to run.

All four neighbors were found by the jury to have sustained emotional distress caused by the fire and physical harm "manifested by objective symptoms."

But the ten jurors ultimately decided to award Kevin and Kathy Davidson a combined $1.65 million. They were awarded $1.05 million for emotional distress damages ($500,000 for Kevin Davidson, $550,000 for Kathy Davidson) and $600,000 for loss of use of their 4 Step Lane property.

Susan Renzulli was awarded a combined $1.15 million. She was awarded $550,000 for emotional distress damages and $600,000 for loss of use of her 5A Step Lane property. Renzulli was not awarded any money for her thigh injury sustained several days after the Veranda House fire, as the jury determined the injury was not caused by the fire.

Frank Harris was awarded a combined $725,000. He will receive $625,000 for emotional distress damages and $100,000 for his heel injury he suffered the morning of the fire.

The Davidsons and Renzulli were also seeking over $1.6 million each for loss of use of their homes while their properties were being repaired rather than rented out during the winter and shoulder seasons. They received a combined $1.2 million.

The Procaccianti Group LLC (TPG) and 3 Step Lane LLC (3SL), the owners and operators of the hotel, were represented by Dan Boho of Hinshaw and Culbertson. He suggested to the jury that the Davidsons be compensated $100,000 each for emotional damages, Renzulli be compensated $100,000 if they believe his clients are responsible for the injury, and Harris be compensated $75,000.

Boho spent his 45 minutes during closing arguments going through the medical records of each neighbor, arguing they contradicted their claims of PTSD. Some symptoms, such as weight loss, lack of appetite, and energy changes, were not identified in the medical records he presented to the jury.

“Nobody in the Davidson or Renzulli homes were at serious risk of harm to them, which would be necessary with PTSD," Boho said. "Is it unsettling to have the fire? Absolutely, and that is what (Dr. Michael Mufson, psychiatrist called to testify by Boho) said. (They asked), ‘Are you saying that this isn't an unsettling situation?’ (He said), ‘No, but on the other hand, it's not PTSD,’ which is what counsel said right in the beginning. They said this is a case of PTSD. It is not.”

Boho reiterated that the hotel’s owners took responsibility for the fire and compensated the neighbors throughout the rebuilding process of their homes, and that significant reimbursements have already been made. He said the trial looked at the question of whether the neighbors have PTSD and if the alleged emotional distress the neighbors are claiming exists was the result of the fire or other circumstances in their lives that were described throughout the course of the trial from divorces and breakups, to recovery from cancer treatments.

"The judge is going to tell you that we have either paid or agreed in writing for all the payments of the lost contents, the alternate living expenses, the moving and storage, the rebuild of the Davidson's home, and the diminution and fair market value of the Renzulli property, and the landscaping costs have all been either paid or promised to pay. Those have all been resolved,” Boho said. “We're down to these last issues where the question is what do you do with emotional distress? In the end, the testimony didn't support PTSD. None of the treating physicians diagnosed PTSD, and Dr. Mufson explained they don't have the conditions.

“The medical records do not support what the plaintiffs are claiming here,” Boho continued. “No nightmares, no flashbacks, no inability to experience positive emotions. All of the major symptoms of PTSD aren’t in any medical records. Their only diagnosis is generalized anxiety.”

Boho added that when there is a financial stake tied to these medical claims, there are validity tests that need to be done to indicate whether the claims are exaggerated or not. The tests he presented came back and indicated the two who did not have exaggerated claims were Kevin & Kathy Davidson. He also questioned the psychiatrist called by Sweet, Dr. Robert Welch, who Boho said didn’t have a lot of expertise in the PTSD field while Mufson taught for four decades at Harvard.

“For Kevin, it doesn’t say positive. It says check for anxiety disorders including PTSD,” Boho said. “Doctor looked at scenarios and said medical records don’t give any indication of PTSD.”

Sweet followed Boho and spent much of his time discussing the inconvenience and struggles each of his clients have endured and continue to endure in the days, months, and years after the fire.

Sweet said outside of Mufson agreeing that these neighbors suffered serious emotional distress, the rest of his testimony was “pretty shaky.” He told the jury Mufson relied on a test that Sweet encouraged them to go through “for a laugh.”

"In one of the, I guess, funnier parts of the trial, Dr. Mufson said that Frank Harris failed the seven series test where you count backwards from 100 by seven, and then Dr. Munson immediately proceeded to fail his own test,” Sweet said. “I bring it up to point out the flaws in telling a jury about someone's emotional health by asking them to count backwards from 100 by seven. I probably couldn't get into the 70s or 80s.”

Sweet said this was not the calm, slow-moving scene the defense was trying to paint to the jury, describing the fire as an "absolute monster" that required the services of every firefighter on the island and additional assistance arriving from off-island fire departments on the ferry later in the day.

"This was a chaotic, frantic scene, and all four of these people experienced that," Sweet said. "We have Frank Harris jumping off the steps barefoot to grab a hose and a ladder to help try and save people getting out of the Veranda House. We have Susan jumping out of bed in her pajamas and running outside to alarm neighbors, screaming. We have Kevin seeing the fire from turning the corner onto Step Lane, running down the street with his flip-flops. We have Kathy looking out the window of her home and looking at a wall of flames across the street 10 feet away, wondering 'Is my husband in the house? Are my kids in the house?'”

Sweet added that to this day, concerns and fears remain amongst his clients about another fire now that the Veranda House has been restored and is back in business. He said his clients have witnessed employees throwing away cigarette butts from the exact same location where the massive fire was sparked four years ago. He said they do not trust the hotel's owners to take the necessary measures to ensure something like this never happens again. Boho said that the hotel, as well as the neighbors' homes, have been modernized, and that there is a designated smoking area where employees have been directed to go when they smoke.

"This fire is still with them, especially with the continued smoking and cigarette disposal going on across the street," Sweet said. "This jury now has the power to put this fire out for good with a just and true verdict against these three corporations that are responsible."

After the verdict was read, Sweet provided a brief comment saying, "We are grateful to the court and the jury paying attention and for spending the time on an important case for the town." He said he was reluctant to provide further comment as the case is still going to be ongoing in the event there is an appeal.