A homeowner and the contractor who accidentally demolished his house have reached a settlement
Everybody makes mistakes
We’ve all made a little mistake or two at work. To err is human! Next time you slip up and your boss has questions, tell them that whatever you did, at least you didn’t accidentally demolish a house because you misread the assignment and were actually supposed to tear down the house across the street.
Back in 2018, a Mississauga homeowner was shocked to discover that part of his house had been knocked to rubble, with the other portion of the house left standing. Fortunately, no one was living in the house at the time, as the homeowner had been in the process of arranging demolition, just not demolition that day.
Related: “We had to live in a construction zone”: One Toronto family’s four-month insurance nightmare
He sued the contractor for $1.5 million, and CTV News now reports that a settlement has been reached, narrowly avoiding the need for a trial.
Reached by CTV News, the contractor admitted to their mistake—admirable—and said an employee simply dropped an excavator off at the wrong house. It happens.
As for the homeowner, he is considering whether to use the settlement money to resume construction. If the incoming contractor is reading this: quadruple-check that work order before you destroy anything.
Related: “We wanted to cut down two trees to build two homes. The city was not pleased”
Carly Lewis is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Wired, Interview Magazine, Pitchfork, Elle, and Maclean’s, where she is a contributing editor. Her work has been recognized by the National Magazine Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards. She reports on city life, culture—including what people do online—politics, art and crime. She received the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for “The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth,” an investigative feature about a Canadian teenager who was killed by a man she met on social media, published by Maclean’s.
