Musume employees told management of gas odor before Sandman hotel explosion: $177M lawsuit

A lawsuit filed by an employee severely injured in last week’s explosion in downtown Fort Worth is suing the owners of Sandman Signature Hotel, its restaurant, and Atmos Energy for negligence, alleging employees alerted management of a natural gas odor, but there was no evacuation or other action taken in response.

Karen Mayte Lopez Ontiveros, 28, was at the epicenter of the blast and was the most seriously injured of the 21 people hurt in the gas-related explosion, according to the suit. She was an employee working in the kitchen of the Musume restaurant located in the basement of the Sandman hotel. She remains in critical condition at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas.

Northland Properties — the company that owns the hotel — and Musume and its owners Rock Libations and SBBC Hospitium are also named defendants in the suit, which was filed Thursday in a Dallas County district court.

“Mrs. Lopez Ontiveros is fighting for her life, intubated and in a medically induced coma, with a low chance of survival,” the lawsuit states.

Lopez reported to the kitchen of Musume to begin kitchen prep on the morning of Jan. 8. Lopez and other witnesses “alarmingly” began to smell strong wafts of “rotten eggs” and experienced a burning sensation in their eyes, evidencing a gas leak in the basement of the Sandman hotel, the suit says.

Although witnesses alerted hotel management of the strong odor of natural gas, no evacuation followed, the suit alleges.

Lopez “and many others were not given proper instruction on protection, and were told not leave the premises,” her attorneys with The Kelley Law Firm said in a news release Thursday.

Lopez decided to finish one more task and return home to her family out of concern for her safety, the suit says.

Before she could do so, at around 3:30 p.m., a blue flame “suddenly and without warning” ignited in the restaurant’s kitchen, leading to the “tragic” gas explosion and causing the first floor of the hotel to collapse on top of Lopez, who was trapped beneath the rubble, the suit says.

A coworker saw the blue flame and told Lopez to run, her attorneys said in the release. Lopez took the “brunt” of the explosion as she was in the “epicenter” of the blast, the suit alleges. She has undergone 10 surgical procedures and is expected to undergo more in the future.

She is currently intubated and is in a medically induced coma with burns covering about 23 percent of her body including her upper right arm, her back, buttocks, and both legs, the suit states. She also suffers from a fractured humerus, a lacerated liver, a lacerated kidney, six broken ribs, punctured lungs and blood clots, according to the suit, which is one of several filed by employees and their families.

There are doubts about whether she will “survive long enough to take care of her growing children,” her attorneys said in the release, and her husband, “Christian Padilla Lopez has been struck with fear and despair over his wife’s immediate future.” Her husband also worked in the restaurant but wasn’t there at the time of the explosion, the family has said.

Atmos Energy said in a statement Jan. 12 that its internal investigation found no evidence its system was responsible for the explosion. The gas company is responsible for lines outside the hotel. The Fort Worth Fire Department has said its investigation is now focused on the inside, where legal experts say the property owners generally would be liable for any defects.

The Sandman hotel opened in spring 2023 after a multi-million dollar renovation of the former office building; the basement-level restaurant opened last July.

Northland Properties Co., the Canadian company that developed and owns the 245-room hotel, said in a statement last week that it was working with authorities to determine the cause.

In another statement this week, Northland officials said, “We appreciate the ongoing concern for those impacted by the incident in Fort Worth. Our focus remains on supporting our team and those who are recovering. Senior executives have traveled to Fort Worth to help our local management. We have been in contact with everyone on our team during this difficult time, and we remain available for them.

“We are holding regular meetings with our team members to provide updates, extend ongoing counselling services, and address their concerns,” Northland said. “We have also submitted Workers Compensation forms for all those who were hurt during the incident and relevant information has been shared with all team members. Team members continue to be compensated while we gain a better understanding of our operations moving forward.”

In a statement Jan. 13, Musume co-owner Josh Babb said, “We are learning more and more information every day about the turn of events last Monday at Musume/Sandman. We want more than anything to find out how the explosion occurred & how it could have been prevented. Our employees are our #1 focus right now & we will do anything & everything in our power to support them.”

Three of the restaurant’s employees were injured in the blast.

Lopez’s suit alleges that while the vision of Atmos is to be the safest provider of natural gas services, the company has a “long” and publicly documented history of unsafe practices and a poor safety record.

Previous gas explosions include a 2018 incident where 12-year-old Linda “Michellita” Rogers was killed and two neighboring homes suffered extensive damage, according to the suit. The National Transportation Safety Board determined the probable cause of the 2018 fatal explosion was the ignition of an accumulation of natural gas that leaked from a damaged gas main and was undetected in Atmos’ investigation of two related natural gas incidents just two days before.

“Atmos has failed to implement policies and procedures to reduce the number of gas-related incidents,” the suit said.

The suit is also alleging Atmos’ pipeline network is made up of some of the oldest pipes in the country, many of them being made out of cast iron.

“Cast iron pipes are incredibly dangerous as they are vulnerable to corrosion, cracks, and other dangers, which inevitably leads to gas leaks,” the suit says.

The government has urged Atmos to replace all cast iron pipelines, according to the suit, which the gas company has failed to do.

Atmos is being sued because it failed to “adequately monitor, inspect, maintain, and respond to a gas leak that had been ongoing for several hours at the Sandman Hotel and Musume and failed to exercise reasonable care in performing the services they voluntarily undertook for consideration,” according to the suit.

Northland Properties, the Sandman hotel, Rock Libations, SBBC Hospitium and Musume are also being sued for negligence because the suit alleges the defendants were aware of a gas leak several hours before the explosion. The defendants “consciously disregarded the unreasonable degree of harm posed to employees, customers, and patrons by the gas leak,” the suit states.

Lopez is seeking $177 million including punitive damages, medical expenses, lost wages, physical pain and suffering, mental anguish, physical impairment, loss of use and enjoyment, and any other damages she is entitled to.

The suit demands that the defendants not destroy or alter any equipment or physical evidence that was involved or present at the Sandman Signature Hotel or Musume at the time of the explosion.

Last week at the request of another plaintiff, a Dallas County judge signed a temporary restraining order preventing cleanup of debris at the hotel for seven days so that the plaintiff could bring in an expert to examine the evidence.

Lopez “did what any honorable person would do in showing up on time, working hard, and doing all that she could to be good to her employer and the people they serve,” her lead attorney, Kevin Kelley, said in the release. “To be rewarded with companies who lacked the care of giving her notice that her life could be in danger is unacceptable and they will pay for their actions to ensure this doesn’t happen to any other person in her situation.”

This story was originally published January 18, 2024 at 6:44 PM.

Nicole Lopez

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Nicole Lopez was a breaking news reporter at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram from 2023 to 2024.