Family of woman killed by falling utility pole to receive $30M settlement

Date:

Share post:


COLUMBIA, S.C. — The family of a South Carolina woman struck in the head and killed by a rotting 70-year-old utility pole will get $30 million through a wrongful death settlement reached Thursday.

Electric company Dominion Energy, which installed a light on the pole, and communications company Comporium, which owned a drooping pole line in downtown Wagner that was no longer in use, both signed off on the agreement, which resolved a wrongful death suit brought by Jeunelle Robinson’s family, according to documents filed in Aiken County.

Last August, a truck snagged the line, pulling it like a rubber band until it broke the poles and launched one into the air, striking Robinson, who was grabbing lunch during her break as a social studies teacher at Wagener-Salley High School, authorities said. The truck had a legal height, they said.

Surveillance video from a nearby store shows Robinson, 31, try to dodge something before the pole strikes her, flipping her body around violently. She died a short time later at the hospital.

“We appreciate the leadership of Dominion and Comporium for working with us to ensure Jeunelle’s family would not have to relive this tragedy in court unnecessarily,” the family’s lawyer, Justin Bamberg, said in a statement.

The settlement agreement does not detail how much each company will have to pay of the $30 million settlement and Bamberg’s law office said that would not be released.

The exact age of the poles isn’t known because records are no longer available. Markings on them haven’t been made in over 60 years. However, the 69-year-old mayor of Wagner said shortly after Robinson’s death that he recognized a bottlecap he had nailed to one of the poles when he was a boy.

A little more than a month before Robinson’s death, Dominion announced a plan to begin replacing equipment that was more than 60 years old in Wagner, a town of 600 people about 35 miles (55 kilometers) southwest of Columbia.

Bamberg said he hopes Dominion and Comporium will use the tragedy to pay attention to inspecting and replacing aging utility poles and other infrastructure that are potentially dangerous, especially in small towns.

Dominion spokeswoman Rhonda Maree O’Banion said in a statement that the company was pleased to resolve the case and extended its deepest sympathies to Robinson’s family. The Associated Press left phone and email messages with Comporium.

The family plans to use some of the settlement to create the “Jeunelle Robinson Teacher’s Hope Fund” to provide school supplies and other items to teachers around the country.

They remembered how Robinson worked her way up from a substitute to her job teaching at the high school and how she often spent her own money and time for her students.

“She loved her class. She loved her students,” Robinson’s father, Donovan Julian, said in March when the lawsuit was filed. “She was a light taken too soon. She was a joy.”



Source link

Lisa Holden
Lisa Holden
Lisa Holden is a news writer for LinkDaddy News. She writes health, sport, tech, and more. Some of her favorite topics include the latest trends in fitness and wellness, the best ways to use technology to improve your life, and the latest developments in medical research.

Recent posts

Related articles

What's next for EVs under President Trump?

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump signed an executive order promising to eliminate what he incorrectly labels “the...

Rosy December for small business sales, but restaurants are left out

NEW YORK -- Small businesses had a merry December, as shoppers wrapped up their holiday shopping.That's according...

Global shares trade mixed in a muted reaction to the U.S. inauguration

TOKYO -- Global shares were mixed in a muted reaction Tuesday to the inauguration of U.S. President...

Sequel to Prince Harry's feud with British tabloids begins in high-stakes trial

LONDON -- The sequel to Prince Harry vs. the British tabloids begins Tuesday in a high-stakes pitting...

Dozens of firms pull ads from Japanese network over sex scandal linked to its staff and celebrity

TOKYO -- Dozens of major Japanese companies have pulled their commercials on Fuji Television amid allegations company...

Canada relieved Trump doesn’t impose tariffs on the major US trading partner on first day

TORONTO -- Canadian leaders expressed relief Monday that broad tariffs were not applied to Canadian products on...

Prada offers savage, instinctive menswear during Milan Fashion Week

MILAN -- MILAN (AP) — Miuccia Prada and her co-creative director Raf Simons described the latest Prada...

Stock market today: Asian shares track Wall St's strong finish ahead of Trump's inauguration

BANGKOK -- Asian shares advanced early Monday after U.S. stock indexes rallied to close out their best...