University of Cincinnati Medical Student Files Lawsuit After Catastrophic Balcony Collapse
Structural failure left 24-year-old medical student with permanent injuries; suit seeks accountability and safety reforms.
CINCINNATI — A University of Cincinnati medical student, Andrew McGovern, has filed a lawsuit after suffering life-altering injuries in a catastrophic balcony collapse at 242 Stetson Street on October 17, 2025.
The complaint, filed in the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas, names Stetson Square Condominium Unit Owners Association, Eclipse Community Management, and property owners Hezekiel and Saba Eskender among the defendants. Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky and DiCello Levitt represent Mr. McGovern.
According to the lawsuit, the defendants failed to properly inspect, maintain, and repair the balcony, resulting in a structural failure that caused McGovern and several others to fall 20 feet to the pavement below. The suit alleges that this failure stemmed from negligence, gross negligence, and reckless disregard for safety, directly leading to McGovern’s severe and permanent injuries — including multiple fractures, internal injuries, and ongoing physical and emotional trauma.
“We are committed to ensuring that property owners and managers across Ohio take their responsibilities seriously,” said Steven Wigrizer, a partner at Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky. “When you provide housing to students and young people, you have a duty to ensure that every structure is built and maintained to the highest safety standards. There is simply no excuse for failing to meet basic building codes and putting lives at risk.”
“Andrew McGovern’s life was forever changed in an instant because those responsible for this property failed to do their jobs,” said Ken Abbarno, a partner at DiCello Levitt, who manages the national law firm’s Cleveland office. “This tragedy was entirely preventable. Our client was a guest, celebrating with friends, and now faces a long and difficult recovery at a moment when he should be building his future, not fighting to reclaim his health.”
The lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages, along with court-ordered reforms to ensure condominium associations and property managers adopt and enforce robust safety protocols designed to prevent future tragedies.
The legal team includes Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky’s Robert Mongeluzzi, Steven Wigrizer, Doug DiSandro, and Olivia Szumski, and DiCello Levitt’s Ken Abbarno, Mark DiCello, Peter Soldato, and Justin Abbarno.
About Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky
Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky is one of the most experienced and successful construction and structural collapse law firms in the country. They have served as lead counsel in the three largest collapse cases in U.S. history: $1.2 billion in the Miami Surfside condo collapse that killed 98 people; $227 million in the Philadelphia Market Street collapse that killed seven and injured 12; and $101 million in the Atlantic City Tropicana collapse that killed four and injured 40. Partners Steve Wigrizer and Robert Mongeluzzi served as lead counsel in the six-month long Market Street collapse trial. Mongeluzzi has been called ” the King of Construction Accidents” and “a name that generates fear in the construction industry.” He has more than 500 verdicts or settlements of $1 million or more in construction cases.
About DiCello Levitt
DiCello Levitt is a complex issues and trial firm dedicated to achieving justice for our clients through securities, class action, antitrust, environmental, mass tort, financial services, business-to-business, public client, whistleblower, personal injury, and civil and human rights litigation. Our lawyers are highly respected for their ability to litigate and win cases—whether by trial, settlement, or otherwise—for people who have suffered harm, global corporations that have sustained significant economic losses, and public clients seeking to protect their citizens’ rights and interests. Every day, we put our reputations—and our capital—on the line for our clients.
DiCello Levitt has achieved top recognition as Plaintiffs Firm of the Year and Trial Innovation Firm of the Year by the National Law Journal, in addition to its top-tier Chambers and Benchmark ratings.